In one of your other posts, you stated that Irresistible is one of the best roses you've ever grown. What would be your top 5 roses?

Also - what do you do to your roses to make them so lush and gorgeous? Do you plant with compost? Do you do alfalfa tea?

Thank so much-

Deanna

This is a post I made a while back: an old farmer told me years ago that the Yellowstone had brought something special down from the geysers up in the park over all those millions of years.... thinking about it during the years since, I think he was right. If you promise not to shoot me... when I go to a new jobsite, stripping the topsoil is one of the first jobs. Sometimes the soil is so good I want it. I load it up and tell the truck driver to take it to my topsoil pile at the company pit. I like a little more sand in the soil than ours usually has. There are some seams of sand in the pit we are excavating to run through the rock crusher. I go to the pit on a weekend and run the soil and sand through the crusher. It comes out on a conveyer belt and piles up. I use a loader to take it to my select pile. Everyone in the company uses that soil from my select pile now. Kevin, the owner, makes outrageous money on the stuff too. He now keeps a regular product pile of it. He makes more per cubic yard on it than on road base material. He thought it was silly when I made up the first batch :)
When we first moved here I brought some equipment home. I went through and took out at least a foot of the old soil. Any that I didn't like was loaded up and exported. I brought in the best topsoil I had found. That was before I ran soil and sand through the crusher. Anyway... I use my select soil and mix it with compost. That goes in new beds and as topdressing in the old beds. I don't understand why everyone doesn't do that... ooops!
Add 2 crazy people that love to spend 20+ hours/week (each) together playing in the yard. Now if those 2 people are also the kind that plants just seem to thrive for.... Y'all think I'm joking about magic don't you? It is real :)

We don't use anything special feeding the roses. They get MiracleGro or MG for Roses, whichever is cheaper. I'll link our mini album site below. Been stalling trying to think of our 5 best minis besides Irresistible....
Sweet Arlene
Ultimate Pleasure
X-Rated
Ooo!Baby!
Love ya Dad

I'm leaving out so many. Those are the best performers. You will see why at the album site. If you have questions about any just ask.

Thanks for the info! Since I don't work anyplace where I can get excellent topsoil and a sand crusher, I guess I won't be copying your technique! :-) However, I think I might get some Azomite and add it to my soil. I'm guessing that crushed sand has lots of minerals in it, and Azomite does too. And I already use compost.

Are Love Ya Dad and OOO Baby warm reds or cool reds? I've got a purple/yellow/orange/red perennial bed that I'd like to add some roses to, and would like some warm reds.

Thanks,
Deanna