Knockout Roses

I have resisted writing about this simply outstanding plant incorrectly believing that everyone knew of it.  Yet I still find myself singing its praises to numerous customers weekly so here goes….

Forget about all the negative things you've heard about roses.  If you have had poor success with roses in the past put that behind you - time to move on!!

Knockout roses were introduced a few years back and are patented .  They were engineered to resist fungal disease with is the bane of most gardeners and common to most roses.  Yes, you heard me correctly, resistant - make that HIGHLY RESISTANT to disease.  No more black spot, powdery mildew etc, etc. No more spraying.

Knockouts are a shrub rose which means it grows like a shrub attaining a size of 4 ft by 4 ft.  This also means you can use it in the landscape as a shrub, foundation planting, hedges, whatever!  For best performance they require at least 6 hours of direct sun daily.  Knockouts will grow in average soil, although amendments certainly would help.  Being a rose they like a neutral to slightly acidic PH.  I use pine needles for mulch as they help in retaining moisture, keep weeds to a minimum and as they decompose enrich the soil and slightly add acid.

When first introduced the Knockout rose came in one color only  - a bright vibrant cherry-red with single petal configuration. Since then a pretty pink and yellow hit the stores as well as double Knockouts in pink and original cherry-red.

Did I mention how easy Knockouts are to grow and care for? Did I mention they bloom non-stop from spring till hard freeze  providing constant color during three seasons??  Knockouts also don't need to be dead-headed (removing spent blooms) as do other roses.  In fact the only pruning they will need might be a spring "haircut".

I really, really like Knockouts, am partial to the doubles and have them in my landscape.  They're easy to care for, bloom a ridiculous amount of the time, extremely versatile in their use (great in containers too) and give an incredible bang for the buck! 

Go out and get one - I'm confident you'll go back for more.