Published June 5th, 2011
By now just about everyone has heard of the phenomenal “Knock-Out” Rose. Actually there are seven rose varieties currently being marketed under the “Knock-Out” brand, and some are definitely better than others. But they’re all pretty good and some are very good.
Overall, “Knock-Out” roses are easy to grow, bloom constantly, resist disease, survive winter cold and “self-clean”. This means the spent blooms drop off and are replaced with new blooms, without tedious “deadheading” (cutting the old blooms off). They all grow to about four feet tall and wide in a nice bushy shape without much pruning. They are so colorful and perform so well they can be used instead of shrubs in foundation plantings and hedges, with very little maintenance.
The best Knock-Outs are the original red and pink, the first ones introduced. Red and pink Knock-Out roses with “double” blooms (more petals per flower) were introduced later and also perform extremely well. We’ve tried them all in our own gardens and in landscapes, and to our delight they are terrific, as good as all the hype.
Other Knock-Out introductions followed. The red and pink “Double” Knock-Outs have fuller blooms, more like traditional hybrid tea rose blooms but smaller. They are excellent performers. “Blushing Knock-Out” is pale pink with a yellow center. “Rainbow Knock-Out” is darker pink with a yellow center. Both are good performers but we know of other brands as good or better. Most recently we’ve seen the “Sunny Knock-Out”, a pale yellow single bloomer. This one doesn’t self-clean as well or bloom as heavily as the other Knock-Outs but it’s still nice.
All these roses can make practical landscape shrubs in locations with full sun all day or even in partial sun. We take special care when planting, adding peat moss and Rose Tone fertilizer mixed thoroughly with the planting soil. After that we just fertilize and mulch them like any other shrub. A once-a-year pruning to get rid of dead wood helps keep them shapely. If you just can’t stand insects chewing holes in the leaves you can spray them with an all-purpose rose spray like Bonide “Rose RX 3 in 1” but they really don’t need it.
No rose is totally maintenance-free, but Knock-Out roses have proven to be tough survivors with very little attention. If you’d like to try some, or want to add more to your garden, or make a gift of one to your favorite “black thumb,” see us. We have hundreds of healthy, good-sized Knock-Out roses and we’re looking for homes for them. If you’ve given up on roses, think again because you can grow these easily.