Gardening Guides
Central Plains Gardening
Great Design Plant: Knock Out Roses
As glorious as their high-maintenance kin for a fraction of the work, Knock Out roses make even beginners look like garden stars
You may be a little hesitant to add roses to your garden. After all, they're fussy and disease prone, and require endless spraying and pruning, right? Not Knock Out roses. These roses were introduced in 2000 to great fanfare and popularity in the gardening world because of their easy care requirements and prolific blooming. This newish rose has made rose gardening so much more accessible to the average gardener, so the biggest decision you'll have to make is which one to buy first.
Distinguishing traits. This rose has a great medium size, which allows it to be used in many areas of the garden — from borders to containers. It features dark green leaves and blooms in reds, pinks and yellows. The flowers can have single or double petals, but the only one that has fragrance is the Sunny Knock Out.
There is no need to deadhead these roses, as one of their best features is that they will bloom nearly continuously without removing the faded flowers.
There is no need to deadhead these roses, as one of their best features is that they will bloom nearly continuously without removing the faded flowers.
How to use it. Because of their medium size, Knock Out roses complement any landscape and are perfect in perennial borders and container plantings. They also combine beautifully with other flowering plants, provided you choose those with similar sun and water requirements.
Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp, zones 3 to 9) are perfect spring/summer complements, as are purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9). For a nonblooming partner, choose lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina, zones 4 to 10). For a great autumn companion you can't beat Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha, zones 8 to 11).
Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp, zones 3 to 9) are perfect spring/summer complements, as are purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9). For a nonblooming partner, choose lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina, zones 4 to 10). For a great autumn companion you can't beat Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha, zones 8 to 11).
Planting notes. Make sure your soil is loose, fertile and well drained, and choose the sunniest site in your garden for planting.
More:
Roses: Crowning Touch of Gardens
See more guides to great design plants
- Dig a hole twice as wide and as deep as the container your rose came in, then gently remove the rose from its pot.
- Loosen up its roots and place it in the hole, replacing the soil and tamping down around the base of the plant.
- Water it thoroughly, and for the next several weeks, check on the soil moisture as your Knock Out rose is getting established.
More:
Roses: Crowning Touch of Gardens
See more guides to great design plants
Common name: Knock Out rose
USDA zones: 4 to 9 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Consistent moisture
Light requirement: Full sun
Mature size: 3 to 4 feet tall; 3 feet wide
Benefits and tolerances: Exceptional disease resistance and hardiness; cold and heat tolerant
Seasonal interest: Blooms nearly continuously from spring until the first hard frost, with bloom cycles every 5 to 6 weeks
When to plant: Midspring or after the last frost