I wouldn't. Why do you want to do this?

I have on a flower bed with lots of other perennials that I water weekly. Not only it’s easier to water all of them, I’m afraid it’s not enough nutrients for them.

What general area of the country you in sistalove25??? Thanks... I kinda agree with the others though that adding MG might be too much...

I’m in zone 7, New Jersey

They will be fine with just the Espoma (Rose-tone?). You can also use the Espoma product on your other plants.

skip miragle gro... espoma is enough and water a lot....I love fish emulsion for a quick snack for roses

I actually do both. Espoma Rose tone and weekly miracle grow foliar spray but I do have sandy soils and it rains a lot here

I do all three, miracle grow in weak fish emulsion + rose tone every 3 weeks. We need it in Florida at this time of year. The daily rains just wash everything away.

I just bought a rose yesterday that had been languishing at Lowe's for about a month whereas I had purchased several others from the same batch previously.

The difference between the ones that had been in my garden for a month and the newer purchase was huge. Mine are much healthier.

Very unfortunately this is not overkill! I'll back off when it stops raining so often and so hard.

Cedemas, how do you use and apply fish imulsion?

Yeah, I want to know too

I use Alaska Fish Plant Fertilizer. It's cheapest at Wal-Mart. Put 3 tbsp in a gallon of water. Because I am lazy I also put my Miracle Grow Rose Plant Food in at the same time--one scoop (scoop comes with the box) in the gallon of fish emulsion mix. I mix it up with a stick and pour 1-4 cups onto the ground where the roots are, depending on the size of the bush. I don't pull back the mulch or anything like that. I just pour it over where I think the roots are.

I am not 100% organic any longer (had a very bad experience with Rose tone when I first started using it--an animal pulled up my new Devoniensis and trampled on my Siren's Keep--I guess this is very tasty to animals--and I lost both roses eventually).

I still use Rose Tone, but now I am using it dilute--mixing it in with water, not just throwing handfuls of it around the ground like I did previously, and I use this as a third addition to my mix every second application. It isn't soluble but you can make a mix of it. The instructions say to scratch it in the surface but I don't have time to move away all the mulch, work it in the soil, and then put the mulch back--not with nearly 100 roses and not when the heat index is nearly 100 degrees Farenheit.

I do this every 3 weeks. I am hoping that when the rains stop I won't have to do it so often. But Pam Greenwald of Angel Gardens says that for growing roses in Florida it should be year round, every 3 weeks and she also says it should always be 100% organic.

I put a slow release fertilizer on the roses in the spring and from then one I use Miracle Grow foliar feeds about every two or three weeks. The roses seem to do just fine and are not over fed. I also mix in a fish emulsion occasionally. I ithink they like the variety!

Does your fish emulsion attract animals in your garden?

Not that I've noticed, I think because it is very dilute.

I really dislike the Miracle Gro products as they are high in nitrogen and the Espoma is lower in nitrogen and higher in phosphorus. Do not use together-- as someone said -- too much for the roses to handle. Feeding monthly with Espoma Rose Tone works out well for them as the Espoma is a slow release product. Save your Miracle Gro for the annuals.

But roses won’t bloom. I planted them beginning of last month. No bloom yet.

Dumping lots of fertilizer on your roses in clay soil will burn the feeder roots. Dumping lots of fertilizer on a newly planted rose won't make it bloom. Patience.

Roses when newly planted are putting down roots first. As cecily says, patience. I planted Beverly about 3 weeks ago and it is just sitting there in my soil. Watering frequently will help your rose too especially if you are dealing with this weekend’s 90 plus temperatures. Make sure there is a decent level (about 3” deep) of mulch around your rose but not piled against the canes (stems).

How often should I water when it’s hot like that?

Jazzmom, it's not too much for record breaking rains and sandy soils. This is Florida. We had 5 inches of rain one day a few weeks ago and we have had heavy rains for about 19 out of the last 20 days.

Anything you give them gets washed away.

I'm just trying to break even with normal relatively fertile soils. You should see what they look like without such a feeding regime.

Also FYI Miracle Grow makes a higher P formula for especially roses.

Sistalove, it depends on the humidity levels. If it's hot and humid, as is normal in the northeast, NOTHING EVAPORATES. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. So water doesn't go anywhere, and the plants don't need to replace what they lost. I've left wet towels outside that don't dry for days because the water doesn't evaporate during the day, and the dew rewets the material at night.

It isn't a one-size-fits-all situation.

Cedemas, the OP is in NJ with heavy clay soil. Your comments apply to FL not NJ. Please don't confuse a new rosarian.

Going to make suggestions for NJ & FL — get compost to amend your soils. Compost makes clay soils less moisture retentive & sandy soils more moisture retentive. Being on LI we deal with both kinds of soils thanks to that glacier that passed through 10,000 years ago.

Do I add compost on top of my flower bed?

If you are planting a new bed, incorporate it into the soil. You can put it on top, (acts to feed the plants too) but if you are trying to alter the soil, I would mix it directly in.

I already have everything planted. And where can I buy the compost? Lowe’s? Home Depot?

Try Agway. I like their bagged manure for small projects. You may
also want to see if anyone in your area sells Sweet Peet for a remotely
reasonable price. Put it in the back of your mind that you may
have to dig the bed up and amend it properly. I've never found putting a
layer on top of that clay accomplishes anything other than putting a
layer on top. If the bed has been dug up, then mulching helps, but it
doesn't do much to break up the soil in the first place.

I just put all goodies on top of existing subsoil and it is working here.

Look for composted manure.

Another option, if you plan to amend a clay filled bed is to get gypsum. Gypsum (the same material in Sheetrock) will break up the clay without changing the pH. Look in a local good nursery (I’ve yet to see this in a big box store) for the gypsum. It should be mixed into the soil same as the compost. Since you have everything planted, you can do what is called ‘side dressing’ which is applying the compost along side your plants.

From other threads that you've posted, I think your new roses are Knock-outs. In Virginia clay, KO's are routinely planted en masse by landscapers with no soil amendments and they thrive. I have several close non-gardening neighbors with KO's who tease me about coddling my roses LOL. Once yours get settled in, they will be tough, reliable landscape shrubs.

I planted a few knock out. They are starting to flower. But some other one I purchased from Lowe’s are really a pain to work with. I lost two of them already that I replaced with knock out already. I don’t know their names, it’s just say Rosa

Maybe putting a photo here, some of us might be able to ID them?

Ok well they are not blooming right now. Two of them bloomed before, one bud each. The most beautiful purple and peach roses I have seen. But here’s what I have