ARTICLES :: Knockout Roses

Roses are a Knockout! 

By: Melinda Sperl,

       Dream Landscape Design, Inc.

Roses are beautiful but they can be a lot of work.  A while back I joined a rose club to gain more knowledge about roses and their recommendation was to treat the plants with an insecticide or fungicide at least every two weeks.  I realized this was not for me nor would I be recommending them.  Now don’t get me wrong, if I have a customer that loves roses and is willing to spend the time and money on them, great.  But my most frequent request is for low maintenance plants.

And then I met the Knockout Rose!  What a spectacular and easy growing rose this is.  They bloom all year long with relatively little care.  The color choices are the ever popular red, double knockout (red), pink, rainbow and the newest, yellow.

Knockout Roses require at least 5 hours of direct sunlight preferably in the afternoon.  They also require well drained soil as no rose likes wet feet.  They are also tolerant to our poor soil conditions but will grow best with an amended rich soil mixture.  Deadheading old blooms will keep them in full color most of the year.  To prevent fungus it is important not to leave water sitting on the leaves overnight so watering in the early morning is best.   Then sit back and enjoy their show, it is worth it.