Susan is also blogging at GardenRant.Knock Out Roses
The hottest-selling rose today is the Knock Out, which was selected an All-American Rose in 2000 by the American Rose Society, then in 2004 their Members' Choice Rose. This family of roses was bred to be highly disease resistant, especially against black spot, and they live up to their advertising on that score. They also require no pruning, deadheading or winter protection. They're very drought-tolerant, AND bloom continuously from May through the first hard frost (in the Mid-Atlantic area they bloom til Christmas most years). There are lots of happy customers on the GardenWeb Forum and on Daves Garden. And here's high praise from the Arkansas Extension Service.
Talk about your sustainable plant!
There's an interesting back story here. For years, roses were bred in low-humidity California, where most roses are disease-free, but when sold to gardeners in more humid regions, the roses performed poorly. Colder regions? Ditto — poor performance. But the Knock Out breeder — now legendary Bill Radler — did his breeding in Wisconsin. He made sure they were disease-resistant by using an overhead sprinkler in his trial gardens (to encourage fungal disease.) Then, for good measure, he ground diseased rose leaves in his kitchen blender to intentionally inoculate the plants.
Full disclosure? Knock Out Roses sponsor Sustainable Gardening — this website, the newsletter, and the companion blog. How nice to partner with a family of products I've been recommending for years, both in writing and to my clients.
Details
- Though they bloom the most in full sun, Knock Outs still bloom plenty with only four hours of sun per day.
- They grow to 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide.
- Varieties include the original Knock Out, Double, Blushing, Pink, Pink Double, and Sunny (in yellow). There are photos of all varieties here.
- They do well in containers.
- Hardy in Zone 4 (with protection) and 5-9 without protection.
Care
- They need regular watering in their first year but after that, only during prolonged droughts. Yes, they're very drought-tolerant.
- No deadheading is required. It's even self-cleaning (meaning its dead petals fall off right away).
- Most people cut their Knock Outs back to 12" or so in early spring.
- No winter protection required as far north as Zone 5.
- Knock Outs will bloom plenty with no fertilizer at all, but better WITH some. I suggest applying a handful of granular rose food around each plant once in mid-May and once in mid-June.