We wish you all a safe, happy and prosperous New Year.

Alfalfa. Isn't that the stuff that gets made into hay and is fed to livestock?

Turns out that's only part of the story. Alfalfa can also be a big boon to gardeners - by making their roses happier and healthier.

It's a crop with a long history. Because of acid soils and high humidity along the Atlantic seaboard, early colonists couldn't grow alfalfa well and nearly abandoned it. But it came west with the Gold Rush and flourished, and today the crop has become so popular in California that it is known in many agricultural circles as the "Queen of the Forages."

Besides being praised in agriculture, alfalfa has become a hit in horticulture, too, particularly in rosedom. As a mulch for garden roses, it does far more than retard weeds.

As it disintegrates, alfalfa yields an alcohol, triacontanol, to which roses take a particular shine. When it reaches their roots, roses act as though they've been aching for a stiff drink and manifest their appreciation with basal breaks, rosarian lingo for new growth emanating from the bud union (the landmark created by budding hybrid roses onto rootstock).

Rosarians live for basal breaks; they're the ticket for increased vigor and better production. An annual mulching with alfalfa nearly guarantees such spirited developments.

Want a fresh, full fruit bowl from spring through fall? Now is the time to plan and plant! It's the beginning of the cycle with winter rains providing the moisture necessary for bare roots to commence the growth cycle that will result in overflowing fruit bowls through the summer. Come on in and we'll tell you how to cluster and plant like varieties for maximum selection and yield.

Before we discuss our planting program, let's take a minute to remind everyone to spray the existing fruit trees with dormant spray to help minimize over-wintering insects and fungal spores. Keep a very vigilant eye on your trees before bud break. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

The defining difference in bare root pricing of fruit trees would be the width (caliper) of the tree. We do not stock any size below 3/8" or bigger than 3/4". This is the optimum range; smaller width would be slow to develop and a wider tree could become top heavy and unmanageable.

Care and maintenance are critical in this stage of development. Be aware of good housekeeping rules: do not permit grass and weeds to grow within three feet of the tree. Competing vegetation robs nutrients and water necessary for the tree's development. Once planted, mulch the area around the tree.

To achieve maximum production from your plants, put them on an eight-week feeding cycle from February to September.