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 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.