Many feeding programs are available to the rose grower. Only a few of these actually originate as the personal work of the grower. Mills Magic Rose Mix is one such product. The following is a brief history of how a grower set about to produce outstanding growth in roses:

Our grower is Ted Mills of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ted is a Consulting Rosarian who, in 1978, began growing roses. Facing retirement from a large national bank, Ted settled on roses as a way to enjoy retirement life. Right away, the “bug” really bit him. His deep interest in producing good roses led him to aggressive experimentation with various fertilizers. Realizing that nature’s way of feeding plants is through organic means, it was only natural that Ted utilize this method and produce the ideal organic mix. This was accomplished in a rather amateurish manner. Component parts of the mix were manually assembled, and the process proved to be quite cumbersome. Then, too, it was a “messy” operation since the inclusion of fish meal presented a stench. Nevertheless, the mix produced super roses, and the fish meal had to remain. Friends and rosarians clamored to use it and referred to it as “Ted’s Mix”.

Before long, a rosarian friend contacted our firm to determine whether we would be interested in producing such a mix commercially. The subsequent contact with Mr. Mills proved mutually beneficial. After all, we had long realized that organics needed to become a part of our operation. Concerted conversation with Ted convinced us that we could not only produce his mix but improve on it and package it efficiently. In addition, we could eliminate the offensive odor of the fish meal and make it marketable to the public. Both of these objectives were met.

Careful planning and deliberation convinced us to market Mills Magic Rose Mix. We began on a small scale with the local Tri-State Rose Society of Chattanooga as our test market. Soon the mix’s popularity spread, and the Nashville Rose Society clamored to make use of this 100% natural product. On and on the interest grew until now it has reached national acceptance.

The American Rose Society (ARS), after extensive testing by rose experts throughout the USA, awarded its seal of endorsement to Mills Magic Rose Mix. This approval precipitated even broader acceptance of the product. In its sound judgment, the ARS has become an avid promoter of the mix. After all, in the beginning, Mr. Mills insisted that ARS receive an ongoing royalty on all products bearing his name.