Originally published May 16, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified May 16, 2007 at 2:01 AM
Plant Talk
Epsom salt may do your roses good
Q: I read that Epsom salt is great for roses. My roses need all the help they can get! I like this idea because a box of Epsom salt is inexpensive...
Special to The Seattle Times
Q: I read that Epsom salt is great for roses. My roses need all the help they can get! I like this idea because a box of Epsom salt is inexpensive and I know it's not poisonous because I've used it in the bath for sore muscles. But I have no idea how to use it on roses. Can you help?
A: Epsom salt in the garden reminds me of opening a box of baking soda to freshen the refrigerator. Both are familiar household products that are cheap and can be picked up at the grocery or drug store.
According to the Epsom Salt Industry Council (really, there is such a thing) the magnesium and sulphur in their product makes plants grow bushier, boosts flower and chlorophyll production, helps the plant take up nitrogen, and aids seed germination. They even claim slugs and other pests are deterred by Epsom salt.
I'm not sure this is the wonder substance the council claims it is, but I'm planning to try it because it's nontoxic and simple to use.
For roses, dissolve the salts in water, 1 tablespoon per foot of plant height, and dose your plants every two weeks. You can also spray the plants with the same solution to discourage pests, or scratch half a cup of the granules around the base of roses to encourage flowering canes.
See www.epsomsaltcouncil.org for suggestions on how to use Epsom salt on other plants, including your freshly planted tomatoes for a higher yield of fruit.
Q: I hate to waste my garden budget on annuals, but I love flowers such as impatiens and geraniums. Are there perennials that I can use to get the same effect?
A: Not really. The mass effect of plants covered with flowers all summer just doesn't happen with perennials, especially in the first couple of years they're in the ground.
You pop annuals in soil, water and fertilize them, and they bloom until frost. Perennials take their time putting down roots, developing foliage, and then they bloom, usually for six to eight weeks max.
Remember, too, that we pay for our garden in work as well as cash. Annuals take very little work for the many months they flower, just deadheading and dashes of liquid feed. Perennials are an investment of time as well as money, because they require cutting back, digging and dividing.
Why don't you splurge on a pot or two of your very favorite annuals for your deck, patio or window box where you'll see them most often? If you choose geraniums, it's easy to winter them over inside on a sunny windowsill, or to take cuttings to winter over for next year, if that makes you feel better about it.
Since you love flowers, put your garden budget to best use with showy perennials that bloom longest. You can count on these to flower over many weeks if not months:
![]()
• Gaura lindheimeri has spikes of pink buds opening to starry white flowers.
• Aster x frikartii 'Monch' has lavender, daisy-like flowers from June until September.
• Evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa) with cup-shaped flowers in shades from yellow through orange.
• Hardy geraniums, especially pink-flowering Geranium endressii.
• Wallflowers (Erysimum cheiri) have fragrant flowers for months but tend to be short-lived.
Valerie Easton also writes about Plant Life in Sunday's Pacific Northwest Magazine. Write to her at P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111 or e-mail planttalk@seattletimes.com with your questions. Sorry, no personal replies.
Plant Talk | Cool new plants from England - check out Derry Watkins's seed list
NEW - 7:10 PM
Candice Tells All: Contemporary cultural design
NEW - 7:20 PM
How to survive a kitchen remodeling
NEW - 7:01 PM
Interiors: Carpet cleaning a must for healthy air
NEW - 7:47 PM
Modern quilters break the pattern

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Electronics
just listed
***Stunning Akc POMERANIAN baby girl W/ FUL...
2007 Kubota BX24 Loader & Backhoe
2007 Ranger Z20 Comanche
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Proposal to link Market, aquarium may be too ambitious for Seattle
- Chilling 911 tapes reveal pleas for help to go to Josh Powell home
- UW's Shawn Kemp Jr. makes own way despite familiar name, number | Steve Kelley
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- NBA's David Stern open to league returning to Seattle
- Prosecutor: Powell's final act ends doubt he killed wife
- Was idea of court-ordered test too much for Josh Powell?
- Local aerospace suppliers say they feel squeezed by Boeing
- California gay-marriage ruling may affect Washington
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
396 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
339 - Sheriff's office unhappy with 911 dispatcher in caseworker's call
275 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
220 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
181 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
109 - Lakewood cop accused of taking donations for slain officers' families
103 - Department of Justice owes the Seattle Police Department an apology
79 - Thursday morning links --- and a video!!!
59 - Scouting report: Oregon
56
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Here it is: The secret to stir-fried chicken | Taste
- Local aerospace suppliers say they feel squeezed by Boeing
- Dicks channeled federal money to Puget Sound project his son ran
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review
- Buttoned Up: Nine immutable laws of time management
- Happy Hour: French-accented charm at Gainsbourg
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history



