Knockout. Sorry it is pretty, and for what it is used for I guess it does its job well, but I just don't get the appeal.

I second knock out. It's all over the place here because it does well, but it is just not my thing.

Julia Child...it was just bland imho.

That would have to be Iceberg followed closely by New Dawn. Only because New Dawn tries to bloom profusely at least once but I hate the savage thorns. I lost Abraham Darby this year after 15 years of faithful service and would not hesitate to replace it. Just my story and I'm sticking to it!

Very new to this forum, but I have been creeping around GW for a couple years. Eventually going to start "getting into" roses.

I "third" knock out. I understand the appeal, but even though they bloom a lot and boast resistance they are just not aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.

I'll second New Dawn. I've had several (I'm nuts, I guess), and all had turned out to be once blooming sports like New Dawn's once blooming parent (can't remember its name). The thorns and huge, stiff canes were awful, too. I'm no fan of Pink Traviata or Sweetness, either. Diane

I'll Fourth Knockout. Tired of seeing endless rows of these for sale at every garden center I go to.

I'll also throw my hat in for Knockout. I'm sick of seeing them take prime real estate at the garden centers and big boxes. Also, I believe these come in other colors besides red. Its like people are afraid to buy any other color but red.

Also Knockout, wwhich is distinguished by dull color and, despite being resistant to BS, an unattractive bush.

Also the floribunda Redgold, a garish monstrosity, and Oranges n' Lemons, IMHO, a gimmick rose.

KO with out a doubt! But otherwise, Disneyland Rose was a major disappointment for me. I saw glorious pictures of it here and grabbed it when it was available locally. Pfffft! It bloomed once and then sat there the rest of the season. Next year same thing except it proceeded to grow backwards and died that winter. No loss and I didn't replace it.

My New Dawn bloomed in flushes all summer and covered a chain link fence, but she was so huge and hard to manage. My Julia Childs are the explosion of color in my garden. I had to remove two from RRD last year, but I will continue to replace them. I've failed at so many I don't know where to begin, maybe with Graham Thomas, so few blooms, weak and spindly plant.

Knock out will be my add as well. I hate getting excited hearing there was a shipment of roses at work, only to find that all are KOs!

Most Austin roses. They blackspot and they're a bit overdone.

That said, I have a nice James Galway that's way too big, but a wonderful rose nonetheless.

Don't know why people dis Knockout. I have had Blush Knockout since it was introduced and it's a wonderful rose IMO. Blooms a lot and has very few disease problems. I'm not going to buy something I have to spray, so I'm really happy with it. And every so often a bloom opens with a single red petal - it's one of the more interesting roses out IMO. Aside from a few teas, it's one of my favorite roses.

New Dawn became a raging cane monster within a year and had half a dozen blooms in the spring only. It's not a rose for my climate. Lunar Mist was a once blooming climber here also and its blooms were very fragile and short lived. Iceberg was just so boring but I guess it works if you want a row of white somethings.

One positive thing I can say about the Knockouts is that roses are being planted in tough landscapes where they can be seen, where before now few other roses would survive. They are not only survivng but frequenlty thriving. This is due to knockout's many good attributes (soul-less flowers not withstanding).

The general public is therefore being introduced to roses more and more which will only result in more and more folks joining the ranks of 'rose-lover' as we are.

The advantage for home rose gardeners who want more than what knockout has to offer...like flower character...is that the future world of roses looks much brighter for us. New introductions of disease and insect free roses in all classes and types are sure to follow if they want to compete in the market place...sell! The era of the weekly spray rose is closing quickly.

Many people do not know that Knockouts, who are mostly grown as lightly pruned large shrub roses (5+ ft.), can be grown like floribundas, to around two feet or so by summer's end (here in W. PA). This is accomplished by hard pruning in spring along with removal of twiggy growth thinner than a pencil at that time. Thin to no more than 6 heavy, well spaced canes at no more than 12" high in spring and watch your Knockouts perform growth and flowering wonders.

Do not attempt the above with the one exception, Rainbow Knockout...one of the worst roses I have ever seen. How it ever got introduced in the Knockout series is a mystery to me. First of all, "Where's the Rainbow?"

Thorntorn

I've never been happy with david Austin roses I have tried. Except the Abraham Darby. They just had to much disease in my area. Although, now that I have a much better management program than I used to I may try some again.
Always loved New Dawn when in blossom, but again just could not keep the BS off of it, we tore it out last year.
What I really wanted to say here is -Doesn't it depend a bit on where you are located and what your growing conditions are and how you manage a particular rose? I think that is a huge factor in the success of individual types. Thornton makes a good point about how the pruning can change performance.

Yep, knockout. But I will have to agree with Thorntorn. I started my rose garden passion by buying a knockout. Now my husband keeps asking me if I'm done yet, buying rose plants. Little does he know I'll never be done now!

New Dawn.

I will defend KOs. They are good starters for newbies, they keep roses in the public mind, and they are good for highway landscaping.

I had forgotten about KO, I guess because to me they aren't really like roses, lol. But I admit I do have a double pink one that I just bought to replace an ailing azalea.

Tammy O

Knockouts are the most overrated. I've seen pictures here of Knockouts that are very pretty, but in my area they are never that pretty. Even if you really like Knockouts, you must admit they are still overrated because they are marketed and sold as THE rose to get. No one rose deserves to corner the market.

I agree about Rainbow Knockout. I owned one briefly and it was horrible. The blooms were the color of dull faded urine. It was very bad for areas with hot sun. It was an AARS award winner too.

Amberroses, I had to lol at that description. I've never heard a rose described that way...

The florabunda, Ebb Tide. Little bitty bush that won't grow. Blooms are beautiful for a couple of day, when it decides to bloom (which is maybe 3 times a year). It just sits there doing nothing most of the time.

I will second Ebb Tide.

It is a BS magnet and is spindly while all my other roses ( what I have left after RRD) are healthy looking.

It's not the Knock Out rose itself that's bad. It can be quite pretty in bloom and in the right circumstances. It's just that it's gotten to the point where there's little else available in local stores because of the hype it's received. If Angel Face got that much hype it would probably be the only one out there too. And everyone knows it's notoriously UNhealthy!

It's all the major marketing of a rose that is, at best, just OK that's made it so obnoxious. The blooms are nothing much to look at, it has no fragrance and it is NOT spot free everywhere. It spots dreadfully in my garden...and mildews...and dies back in winter...etc., etc.!

It has to be a location thing. My New Dawn is a magnificent bloomer...and rarely has even a touch of black spot.

{{gwi:267779}}

It does like to be fed with Mills Magic Mix, nd I do have to dead head it to get repeat bloom, but it is worth it. However, I doubt it likes to bloom everywhere like this, what does?

Abe Darby is magnificent for me too.

kay

No, mine is actually Knockout, not the fact that it is everywhere. Yes it grows easy and is resistant, but it also has a very simple flower that I just don't find appealing. Also, I find them to have little if any smell.

So the combo of an uninteresting bloom and no scent and I just don't see it being worth the hype.

Add in that in Ft Worth and Dallas they are thinking the KOs are the primary vector for the mites spreading RRV and I am even less enthused with them.

Its true though, geography will impact this a lot. My Ebb Tide is growing like crazy and has been blooming continously for more then a month. My Don Juan is great as always and my Julia Child is basically in continous bloom sense I moved it away from the Wisteria. My Graham Thomas's are growing great, a little wilty with the heat, but they haven't been in the ground a month yet. My Heritage from last year has been blooming for 6 weeks straight. So yes geography will impact this a lot.

If I had to say one other then KO, I would go with In the mood, it hasn't grown very well for me the last 5 years I have had it, although I finally pruned it back hard and has thrown up some canes, actually looks somewhat like a rose bush, and actually has more then one bud on it at a time.

Maude80- The official description of Rainbow Knockout from Star Roses is: "Uniquely colored coral pink blooms with yellow centers."

I think "uniquely colored" is the nice way of saying "color of dull faded urine."

I've never grown Knock Outs, and can't imagine that I ever will. Yes, they're now ubiquitous to the point of being a colossal bore, and, yes, the original KO's neon fuchsia (or whatever color that is) affronts the senses, especially when planted en masse, as it all-too-often is.

But are any of the KOs really OVERrated? I don't think so. Like 'em or hate 'em, the fact is that they deliver like gang busters on their promise to produce virtually non-stop bloom on a robust plant that is remarkably disease free. What "rating" are they falling short of?

I confess to being among the rose snobs who are disdainful of KO's . . . Bill Radler must be deeply wounded by our sobbery. No doubt he, like Liberace, sobs uncontrollably all the way to the bank.

Exactly, Seil. You cannot walk into a store here and find anything but Knockouts. The only independent nursery here that carried roses burned, so it's mail order or nothing because of the knockouts.

For those who feel compelled to buy a Knock Out, at least go for the Pink double Knock Out. My neighbor traded in her neon red KO for the Double Pink, and we both are so much happier with it. The pink is quite attractive without assaulting your eyes.

Kate

I think jaxondel has a good point brought up.
KO roses seem to grow and flower vigorously in most regions without issue. What other rose variety can claim such a feat? In that regard, they usually do live up to their expectations when it comes to performance. Now the beauty aspect is another that involves personal tastes.

Over here we have to deal with seeing Icerberg roses everywhere. If it wasn't so commonly planted I would definitely have one in my garden; The flowers of Iceberg are quite beautiful though.

Monotony isn't too well appreciated when we know there could be so much variety in the world of roses.

Warning about Knockouts....

They are as susceptible to midge fly as any rose in cultivation can be. In parts of the country where midge fly is a serious pest I suspect mass plantings of Knockouts become breeding grounds for them, possibly accelerating their spread/re-infestation potential.

My Lady Emma is wonderful and so is my CPM. I am a bit under impressed with Julia child

Pssst, Thorntorn . . . Believe it or not, KO's are actually ROSES!

I have to agree with zyperiris--Julia Child just does not make my heart zing. Other than that, she's all right--but I just cannot get excited over her.

Kate (fleeing from all the Julia-lovers!)

I guess when you make a topic like this KO's will inevitably be thoroughly discussed......

Dublinbay,
You can run, but you can't hide!

I bought a Julia Child about a month ago, has not bloomed yet. I'm a yellow rose fan, and I heard it has strong fragrance (a must for me in roses). Now I feel uneasy about my purchase....

I am starting to think they should rename it Knockabout!
LOL. I never see anyone growing these flowering shrubs, nor anyone praising them--- so honestly I think they are underrated.

I agree with Will Rogers, I never met a Rose I didn't like.
But then he never met a Knock Out rose.
Well he might have said that too, Just kidding, having fun today it's my birthday.
Jack

Auron22, don't be uneasy over your Julia purchase. She's not overrated (in my opinion). Diane

I don't get the slamming of Knockout either. Do people refer only to the original or to all of the sports and follow-ons? I had plenty of teas and other roses when I planted Blush Knockout, including some with very simple blooms like Lyda Rose and Darwin's Enigma and Pleasantrie and I was quite happy with the Blush KO. Matter of fact, of that particular group, it's the only one I still have.

As to what's available in stores, I don't shop in stores for roses, so I have no idea. However, I would think it's better to have those available than most of the hybrid teas and floribundas that have been sold over the years that require constant spraying.

Actually, I do have a single nomination for most overrated rose - Peace. Grows well in dry desert. Otherwise defoliates within hours. Chicago Peace has the same problem but on top of that it's ugly. I made the mistake of planting those a number of years ago.

Gone.