I am all for it. Mine was from Home Depot two years ago. It performs like a regular KO, and doesn't look stiff at all because I trim it often to keep the round shape. Shoots that are pointing out and downward are welcome, remove the ones that are growing toward the center and the overly strong ones. It will gradually get rounder and rounder every year. In the winter, I put it under the deck against a wall, roughly cover the graft union with an old winter jacket or sometimes a blanket. It never had any die back and always was the first to wake up in early spring. Health wise and vigor is already well known for this rose. I under plant it with the miniature rose Green Ice, and they are the hardest workers and the most reliable in the garden. I used to have Gene Boerner then Playboy standards, keeping the round tree top shape wasn't hard, it's the health issues made me replaced them and decided to keep KO. The only thing with standards to me is to keep them straight, and to protect them from strong winds. Remember to water too. Here's mine in late May. It bloomed nonstop for a month, rested for about two weeks and now it's covered with new growths and tiny buds, getting ready for July 4th! I plan to give it a much bigger pot next year and add cascading annuals underneath it. I say this rose is worth every penny you will spend.

Joanneb, I too am a new gardener, never planted a thing outside in my life, and whaddya know, I started with a tree rose (in March 2009) hahaha! of all things... But really I urge you to take the advice of DublinBay and Mad_Gallica...Really reconsider whether you want to have so many KOs... In my opinion there are sooooo many more lovelier and just as hardy roses.... I don't like KO because they don't have character in the formation of their petals and shape and they don't have scent...Bees don't particularly seem to care for them either... I see KOs everywhere and if you choose KOs it would be like choosing a landscape that looks like a typical apartment complex...KOs are everywhere, on every single sign, even fast food restaurants have KOs outside, every apartment complex is plastered with them, hotel chains, etc. etc. I too as a newbie did too many same kind of roses. Two Special Occasion roses, 2 Lincolns, 2 Sutter's Gold... And I guarantee, once you get hooked on roses you will wish you had far more than just one kind... Roses are like MAGIC... there are so many prolific bloomers like KO but with much more loveliness and all kinds of color...For me the magic is also fragrance, so I say take your time and best! of all just like everyone says, visit a real rose garden...Stupid me didn't do that, so I've got too many same kinds even though I love them all except for boring Queen Elizabeth with zilch fragrance (when I first started roses as a newbie and didn't know any better)...It's just that now I've discovered so many more roses and because I only have very limited space, I am indeed "stuck" with what I originally selected.

Hi everyone. I think I can address many, if not all, of the questions and much of the concern about finding the newest Knock Out series rose, Pink Double Knock Out. Pink Double Knock Out is, in fact, the newest Knock Out series rose available. The 'Double Knock Out', Pink Double Knock Out's predecessor, is a bright, cherry-red (with all the hardiness and disease- and pest-resistance of the original Knock Out), while Pink Double Knock Out is a bright, true pink color that will not fade (again, with the same hardiness and disease- and pest-resistance as the others). Pink Double Knock Out was released exclusively last fall through Novalis Plants that Work (only available at independent garden centers and through a select few online catalogs) to a select number of garden center retailers across the country. However, Pink Double Knock Out will be available nationwide, exclusively from Novalis Plants that Work, this spring, 2008. For additional info about this plant, where to find it, etc. I recommend visiting the Web site below. I was able to get Pink Double Knock Out in my garden last fall so I can say: it is worth waiting a few short months for... until spring is here. Here is a link that might be useful: Novalis Plants that Work

Here's a fairly large Double Knock Out in the front yard--in the divider between my property and the neighbor's. Haven't had time to anything with it yet this year, so its looking a bit wild and woolley--and maybe lop-sided. I'll try to get some pruning done before the season is over. : ) Light blue irises came with the property when I bought my house thirty something years ago--don't know their name, but they bloom forever (for an iris). Another iris--name unknown. Sure is lovely. Here's a terrific fully packed white peony called Festiva Maxima--love that blood-red like marking in the middle of the blooms. I read somewhere once that this old classic is a good choice for more southerly gardeners, but I don't remember why. I have 4 of them. BIG blooms. Its getting so exciting now that things are nearly ready to bloom--can't believe the buds all over the yard--have never seen so many. Oddly, however, my hybrid teas are not taking over the show like they usually do. I thought with the mild winter we had, they would do terrifically well, but it seems the shrubs and floribundas are the ones doing best. But maybe that will all change in the next few weeks. This is about 3 weeks early for my roses--any of them--to be blooming. Kate