I’ve grown roses for years….
tea roses, climbing roses, gradiflora, etc… etc… but I must confess something,
when it comes to roses,
I’ve killed more roses than I’d like to admit.
GASP!!! Hey, no one is perfect!
Yes, my thumbs aren’t always green…. their usually covered in blackspot…
dang blackspot… you are the thorn in my side…errr…rose!
Because I live in the south where the sun is hot, hot, hot, and humidity is thick as a men’s steam room…. (yuck, sorry for that visual),
I want roses, what girl doesn’t love roses?
…but roses that aren’t high maintenance!
No DIVA ROSES ALLOWED in my yard!
I want roses that any brown thumb gardener can grow.
I want EASY ROSES!
And I’m happy to tell you that I have found them! They are Knock Out Roses. They are almost indestructible. Woo-hoo!
Look at this gorgeous hedge of roses dividing my yard from my neighbors. I planted them 3 years ago. Our soil sucks. I’m talking clay soil. So much clay you could sculpt a clay pot with them! All I did was dig a hole 2x the size of the pot they came in, set the plant in the hole, backfilled with good quality top soil and then added 1/2 cup of rose food to the surrounding soil. That is it!
Knock Out Roses will quickly grow to 4ft x 4ft. They resist blackspot (yay), do not need dead-heading (unless you desire it), and the best part….
THEY BLOOM FROM SPRING UNTIL THE FIRST FROST!
What else do you have in your garden that can say that?
The picture below is year 2 of Knockout Roses planted on either side of my entrance. (Basically they double in size each year).
This variety is the original Knockout Rose in red.
The fun option is to have DOUBLE KnockOut Roses. This variety produced very full flowers and mimics the look of an open tea rose, which is very appealing.
Features:
drought tolerant
disease/pest/blackspot resistant
double blooms
darkgreen/purple foliage
blooms spring-1st frost
zones 5-11
This lovely variety below is The Pink Double Knockout Rose.
Features:
low maintenance
tons of flowers/ repeat bloomer
drought tolerant
disease/pest/ black spot resistant
3-4′ tall/wide
double blooms- spring -1st frost
Zones 5-11
I would love to add this beauty to my garden. This is the Rainbow Knockout Rose.
It boasts coral pink blooms with bright yellow centers and is more compact than the other varieties. It rarely ever has any issues with blackspot which is a must-have if you live in humid regions.
Features:
Very Blackspot resistant
drought tolerant
tons of flowers
3-4 feet
foliage- deep burgundy aging to deep green.
Zones 5-11
Add a touch of sunshine to your garden with the Sunny Knockout Rose.
This rose is the newest in the Knockout collection. It is the one variety that has a strong fragrance. It is more upright and compact than the other varieties. The blooms start off as bright yellow then quickly fade to a pale, creamy yellow. During cooler times of the year, the blossoms will be more vibrant in color. If you’ve ever tried to grow yellow roses in the south, then you KNOW how difficult they can be! This plant provides worry free blooms all season!
Features:
3-5 feet tall (largest of the group)
low maintenance
drought/ blackspot/disease/pest resistant
Repeat bloomer
tons of flowers
slight-strong fragrance
zone 5-11
If you consider yourself a brown thumb gardener then PLEASE buy these Knockout Roses.
Now look, EVERY plant needs water. These are not cacti! You do need to water them once a week if you are in hot climates like mine (I’m in zone 8). And these roses do need at LEAST 6 hours of sunshine each day. I have Knockouts on the very hot and sunny south side of my home and on the shadier north side of my home. They both are doing well, but the sunnier south side have grown fuller and bloom better. They all have thorns but you will have a house FILLED with rose bloom cuttings all spring, summer, and fall!
I only fertilize each rose bush one time a year in spring with 1/2 cup of granulated rose food. That’s it.
These babies are love ’em & leave ’em!
If you are even capable of killing Knockouts then you deserve some type of brown thumb award, because I’m telling you,
YOU CAN’T GO WRONG WITH KNOCKOUT ROSES!
Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them asap.
Happy Gardening!
For more gardening tips & tricks, check out my GARDENING tab up at the top of the blog.
Kim
This is such a welcomed post!! I have felt ( sob) like a rose killer for years. I have tried, I really have 🙁 and tried some more, and well, they succumb to black spot and die. Against my best ( truly) efforts.
But, aha, but… I ( actually my mother) , got me a few knock out roses, and I am no longer a rose killer. These guys thrive in spite of me. I have roses!!! In Florida… in high humidity and HOT, hot summers.
Gladtoknowiamnottheonlyone
Hugs, Gee
Oh wow Gee! If you can master roses in Florida then that is testimony as to how anyone can have a gorgeous garden with these Knockouts! So glad your’s are doing well!
I have a knock out rose bush for a year now. It hasn’t bloomed this Spring. I did trim it and no need to water since we have been having rain. The stems look redish purple. I haven’t fertilized it. Is that why it hasn’t bloomed?
Hi Krystale,
I’m not sure where you live, but I suspect it’s just too early yet for your rose. Ours just started blooming in the past 2 weeks. If your stems and leaves are still reddish purple then that is telling me that those are still young new branches. I have rose bush that doesn’t get as much sun as the others and it hasn’t bloomed yet either… but it will, just give it time.
These are gorgeous! You know what’s funny? Hubby and I were just at Lowers yesterday getting herbs (just planted this morning!) and I saw some roses. I realized we have NONE in our yard so I was saying we needed to get some next trip. And I swear we are related somehow. I just posted about my tulips on my blog! 😉
Well, if not related Amanda, then we are definitely kindred spirits for sure! You will be soooooo happy with the knock outs, I promise!
I have the sunny yellow knockouts which just started blooming and they are gorgeous!! I just wanted to add that although they do have a scent unlike some of the others, its not strong, and they smell a-mazing!!!! So pretty!! Love love love them:)
Great to know Christy! Thank you! I’m really wanting to find a spot for the yellow ones. I passed a massive yellow bush today and was in awe! 😉
There are lovely and I kist pinned it. I’m checking my zone today!
Thank you!!!
Where can I purchase them ?
Just about home garden center or garden nursery in the US carries them.I have bought a majority of mine at Home Depot or Lowes.
I love your information on Knock Out roses. I planted them all over my house (front yard, back yard, and side yard) , and loved them for six years. Last fall they started sending out red branches and weird looking roses. After searching this out in many different venues. The answer was “Nimatodes”! I had to pull everyone of them out and replace the soil. This summer I need to cover the area with black plastic to kill the little creeps. Next spring I can start planting the again. Needless to say I was heart broken over pulling them out. They were georgeous! If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Hi Judie,
What struck your roses was Rose Rosette Disease. It’s a virus that is starting to spread in different areas of the country. Here is a great article in this month’s Southern Living about it. http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2013/04/21/is-knockout-rose-down-for-the-count/
I’m hoping none of mine ever are afflicted by it! It sounds awful.
What do I do for these roses overworked. Prune back?
Yes but not right now. Wait until late winter/early spring to prune. If you do it now then the plant will think it’s time to grow and put out new growth which will soon be killed by the coming frost.
thanks for such encouraging tips and infos! I just bought the knock-off roses but I am wondering if they are going to be fragrant. It seems that some are while others don’t smell, it that so?
thanks again!
Hi Connie! They don’t really have much of a smell unfortunately. But blooms all summer long make up for the lack of scent. 😉
It’s mid April and my knock out roses are showing the new buds. Overnight, something has eaten on the leaves! All the leaves are half eaten! I have looked very closely and I can’t see any signs of any kind of pests. What should I do? Prune them back, use some sort of pesticide, what??
Hi Carol,
Oh wow! I’ve never had that issue happen to my Knockouts before. Because you mentioned that it happened suddenly overnight, I’m suspecting you might have deer munching your lovely roses for a late night snack! I did a little research though and found this article. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/eating-knock-out-roses-95044.html It gives some other suggestions of what the problem might be.
My brother has Knock out roses and his bush is full and round. Mine are rather leggy, getting taller but not full around. Any suggestions?
I’m not sure Rita why that is. If you planted it not in full sun then it might be sending out leggy branches in search of more sunlight. You could cut it back now by 1/3 and then in late winter/very early spring (before buds emerge) you can cut the bush back serverly. Give it 1 application of Rose Fertilizer once it starts budding in the spring.
Another reason could be that it might have rose-rosette disease. It shoots up tall, CRAZY thorny, bright red branches and produces a small, mishapen cluster of rosettes that resemble a witches broom. If this is the case then the entire plant needs to be removed.
Hope that helps some. Thanks!
KIM
I planted mine in the early summer last year and this year my double knock outs came back extremely tiny. I am in Wisconsin zone 3-5 but wow are they tiny. I have had two out of the 4 blooming even with them being so small. Any suggestions to make them thrive?