Want a lush & lovely garden without spending a dime on fertilizer, slug protection & compost?  Well, have a banana an egg & a cup of coffee for breakfast. My secret garden tips are to: cut up the peel, crush the shells & scoop together the grinds and work all three into the soil under & around your plants.  Toss the secret trio into a container before you mix in the planting soil.  Each will act as a slow release fertilizer, pest deterrent & soil amendment. The banana peel adds phosphorus & potassium to the soil.  Both are essential to a healthy plant.  Potassium being responsible for the formation of new flower buds. Your roses in particular will want a bunch of bananas and you will want a bunch of rose buds.  So peel yourself one today & bury it deep under an existing rose bush. Then hurry ~ pull out some vases 'cause you are gonna have some extra bouquets! The egg shells add valuable nutrients such as calcium.  Rinse & crush the shells and work into the soil. Tis the season for tomatoes and they need a lot of calcium for growth & to prevent blossom end rot.  That sounds nasty, right? Also sprinkle the crushed shells on top of the soil to deter slugs & snails.  They don't like crawling over the shells. Imagine dragging yourself belly down over shards of glass to get to a salad...yes that would be a deterrent! Only the bravest hungriest of slimy critters will make to the salad bar!   (I might do that on a Friday for a glass of wine, but not a salad.) The coffee grinds provide nitrogen & tannic acids to the soil.  Acid loving plants such as azaleas, blueberries, butterfly weed, camellias, ferns, gardenias, lupines & rhododendrons especially love coffee grinds. Sprinkling the grinds on top of the soil may also deter slugs & snails as they are known to be tea drinkers ;)  No ~ really they also don't like the feeling of sliding over the grinds.  So picky ~ a wonder they eat as much as they do! When I know I am going to be doing some container planting or soil amending I start collecting 'the remains of the day', so to speak.  I put my cut banana peels, crushed egg shells & coffee grinds in a big zip-lock bag.  I then put that inside an opaque bag in the bottom drawer of my fridge. The opaque bag is only because seeing this secret trio mixed in the bag totally grosses my girls out.  So if your fellow dwellers are not so easily turned no need for the second bag.  The secret mixture will last in the fridge for a week or more. Feel free to pass these secrets along AND to share one of your own...love to hear what secrets to a lush & lovely garden that you have up your gardening glove! ** Kelly **