Keep Those Flowering Plants Healthy

Raleigh, N.C. - Americans love their flower gardens. And gardeners want to keep those flowers as pretty in the yard as they looked at the garden store.

"Many gardeners carefully budget, plant and water," says Bayer Advanced Garden Expert Lance Walheim, who wrote the best-selling book Roses for Dummies and is a regular contributor to Sunset magazine and books.

But diseases, insects and mites can attack flowering plants. For example, spider mites can literally suck dry the leaves of flowering plants, especially roses. These close relatives of spiders, daddy longlegs and ticks are smaller than the head of a pin. Spider mites use a pair of needle-like stylets to rupture leaf cells when they feed, and then suck cell sap from the torn cells.

"You can have the start of a spider mite problem and not know it because the pests are so small," says Walheim. "Preventing the problem is the key to success after all of the money, care and emotional energy you've given to your flower beds."

Ways to help flowering plants thrive include:

1. Choose flowers adapted to both your climate and to the conditions of your garden.
2. Position your plants in the appropriate season. For example, impatiens thrive in shady areas. Marigolds like full sun.
3. Check the sprinklers to make sure they reach the flowers and are left on long enough to thoroughly wet plant roots.
4. Remove spent flowers (called deadheading) to channel plant energy into more blooms.
5. Fertilize to keep plants growing vigorously and blooming.
6. Prevent problems with Bayer Advanced™ 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control Ready-To-Use which protects from insects, diseases and mites. It contains two-way insecticide action and a fungicide that kills many types of insects on contact, including spider mites and prevents and cures diseases. The spray is rainproof and provides up to 30 days' protection. And it comes in two formulas: a pre-mixed ready-to-use for a few plants or a concentrated version for bigger jobs.

About Bayer Advanced

Bayer Advanced lawn and garden products are created by Bayer Environmental Science, a business unit of Bayer CropScience LP and part of the Bayer AG family, a Fortune Global 500 company that makes such well-known brands as Bayer Aspirin, Aleve® and Alka-® Research Triangle Park, NC, is the business headquarters of the company''s NAFTA Region. Kansas City, MO, is the company''s core technology center. The global headquarters of Bayer CropScience is located in Monheim, Germany.

Bayer Advanced products deliver Better Science. Better Results.™ and carry a money-back guarantee. They are available at major retailers and independent garden shops across the United States. You can learn more by visiting www.bayeradvanced.com or by calling 1-877-BAYERAG.

Luckie Strategic PR Media Contacts

Lori Merricks (205) 877-9736, lmerricks@luckie.net
Mariesa Woodring (205) 877-9705, mwoodring@luckie.net
Leigh Ann Monitor (205) 877-9795, lmonitor@luckie.net

Products Mentioned In This Press Release

3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control Ready-To-Use