Great Mother's Day Gift - A Knock Out Rose and Rose Pruner

I planted these Double Knock Out roses...blooming like crazy.  - Jan 

I love Knock-out Roses...I know they are becoming almost too popular but there are good reasons for this:

They are disease free, bloom extra long and are cold hardy.

They bloom the first year you plant them and are heat tolerant.

And best of all, there is no need to deadhead Knock Out -- the flowers will continue no matter what!

I normally plant the Double Knock Out Rose. The flowers have 25 petals per bloom! Flowering begins in early summer and continues til heavy frost ( it was still blooming in NY in mid November).

double knock out rose

Prune them in late winter or early spring or trim them right after the first bloom flush in early summer. Follow with some rose food. Epsom salts too!

A great rose pruner is the Corona Long Reach Pruner.  It cuts and holds so you don't have to touch thorny branches. Click on the name for more info.  It makes rose pruning and other tree and shrub pruning so much easier because it gives you extra reach.




A new Knock Out I want to try is the 'White Out' Knock Out Rose. It has almost black foliage and creamy white flowers. Grows well in heat. Compact. Its open flower would look wonderful in a cottage garden.  It was selected as one of ten top roses in 2012 at the UGA Trial Gardens.  click here for more.

white-out Rose












Comments

  1. www.ravenscourtgardens. comApril 28, 2015 at 2:00 PM

    I am a bit tired of KO roses but not enough to stop using them in designs for clients that want lots of color and no maintenance. I hope the new white-out makes it to our market. I love white flowers! Happy spring!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan JohnsenApril 29, 2015 at 7:17 AM

      Laurin, you are so right...a garden workhorse - but overused.

      Delete

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