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gamebird

Is it okay to plant knock-out roses now in OK, zone 6?

gamebird
15 years ago

My mother got me three knock-out roses today, 2 Radtko and 1 Radtazz. The temperatures right now are below freezing many nights, but up in the 50s most days and 60s some days. Is it okay for me to plant these outside right now? (I've already planted the two Radtkos, so I suppose asking now is too late... but I'd like to know how much I've goofed if I have.)

The plants are in about 12 inch plastic bags lined with grocery-bag-like paper, with fine wood chips around the roots. Of the two I've planted, one had plenty of good-looking white, new roots growing out of it and the other had only a few. All three plants have 2-4 inches of leafy growth coming out of the canes. I know very little about roses, but they look healthy enough.

Is it okay to plant them outside at this time of year? If not, how would I keep them inside until the right time? And what is the right time?

Oklahoma has unpredictable spring weather. It is very likely we'll have an ice storm before things warm up for good and almost guarenteed we'll have a lot of nights below freezing, but probably not much below freezing. On the other hand, it's possible we'll have an early spring, it will continue warming up, and the freezing weather will be behind us very soon.

I've never grown roses. For planting them, I put each in a big hole and filled with mostly leaf compost and some of the native dirt. Then I gave them a gallon and a half of water.

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