KNOCK_OUT ROSES

Forums: Roses, Knockout Roses, Gardening
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Never planted roses cause they look nice for a few weeks and have these vast medical needs that can turn ones life into that of a devoted care-giver. NOW theyve come up with these "knockout" roses that appear to be calmly taking over ones property if allowed and they seem to thrive on basic neglect and all sorts of environmental conditions.

I know nothing of them, but have spaces all over that cry for accessories. Pwrhaps Ill try knockout roses. ANYBODY have hands on experience (Ive already read many internet offerings but I dont believe hlf the stuff thats out there)

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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 2,326 • Replies: 20

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@farmerman,

Similar situation with foxgloves re roses. I've got two bushes in the back garden, never really given either of them much attention and they're thriving. You need to get advice from people with a similar climate/soil.

Sorry I can't be of help.

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@izzythepush,

I hope some can give me advice. Im concerned whether these varieties will make it without needing major life-long attention

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@farmerman,

I never heard of them until you mentioned them, but photo's of the blossoms remind me of the Wild Roses I see by the ocean. If these Knock_Out Roses are related to the wild ones I've seen, they'll probably live through anything.

Those wild roses by the ocean are really tough little buggers to live where they do.

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@izzythepush,

We have dog roses growing wild round here. I think climate has a lot to do with it. I can't grow cucumbers outside though. I've grown them before, but there's something in this back garden that goes for them. At first I thought it was slugs, but they still die no matter how many slug pellets I put down.

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@farmerman,

There's a popular radio gardening programme that's been going out for years. They might like the challenge of trying to grow roses in a hot climate, and include your question in the postbag section.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/gardeners-question-time/contact/

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@farmerman,

I haven't seen Knock Out roses here yet. I've had good luck with the Explorer series (John Cabot etc.). They're wonderfully low maintenance. Mine haven't been watered in about a decade and they've been exposed to fairly extreme temperatures ( - 40C to 40C) over the past 12 - 15 years.

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@ehBeth,

do they grow and get bushy? I dont like the usual spindly look of rose bushes that my mom used to care for.

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@rosborne979,

I think thats how they were developed, a cross between some tea roses and the wild ramblers.
We used to have some very pretty wild roses along our filed margins .. Then these damn "multiflora roses" came in and took over so tightly that I must keep pastures carefully mowed so they dont get all full of the damned things.
Weve declared the multifloras as a Noxious weed.(although some folks like to make the rose hip tea)

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The knockout roses we grow at the apartments overgrow the beds and have to be kept trimmed. They produce flowers just about all year, in our climate.

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@farmerman,

I wouldn't be surprised if they were developed from the wild roses given the appearance of the flower.

I've seen wild roses blooming in the dunes on Plum Island even on cold grey days in October with salty spray blowing in off the waves.

Maybe buy one of the plants and let it go for a year or two without touching it and see what it does? I assume there are certain soil conditions which it prefers, so I have no idea how they would do in Pennsylvania. But they sure like the sandy soil out by the ocean.

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@farmerman,

I've got a couple of Explorers. One is a climbing rose that is huge and bushy, one is a lower, shrubby one. I also had one of the more 'long-stem' ones. I wasn't a fan, so kinda cut it to death.

the climber I've got

http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/john-cabot.html

mine has reached the roof above the porch, which is elevated by about 10 steps, so the main climber branches are over 10' long

the Henry Hudson has also done well for me. I've seen the William Baffin - I don't have one as I'm not a fan of white roses.

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I've got a blushing pink in the back yard. The blooms are relatively small, but
profuse. It just goes and goes all summer. Out front I have red. The blooms
are larger, but the shrub is much smaller. Also, the red is a bit garish, almost
day-glo. They have both survived my care, so they must be low-maintenance.

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@ehBeth,

lots opf care needed? I loove climbing stuff and I hadda blacksmith make three hoop top trellises with simple grass or climbing flower motifs in the frame (All in iron coil). I want to plant something opermanent cause I got e 3 years ago and planted morning glories around the frames. WELL , as youd guess, Ive got a mass of morning glories that Ive gotta dig up each year (DAMN those things are weeds)> SO I want to plant CLimbing woody something this year and I dont wat grapes

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@George,

OOH, low maintenace you say. I saw several cultivars at a plant store that were profuse and the floweres were icely composite double blooms SO they didnt look like the usual delicate flowered climbers or spindly tea roses. Sort of a mix. SO YOU DO NOTHING?? no bug **** or fertilizer or pruning??? wow could this be true? Do they have a nice fragrance?

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@rosborne979,

I would do that anyway. I believe in "Tough loive" with everything except my veggies

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@farmerman,

farmerman wrote:

. . . SO YOU DO NOTHING?? no bug **** or fertilizer
or pruning??? wow could this be true? Do they have a nice fragrance?

In early spring I cut them back by a third. If I remember. I have a compost
heap going and every once in a while I rake some into the soil around the
shrubs. If I remember.

They handle New England weather better than I do.

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Not much of a fragrance.

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@farmerman,

The Explorer series roses are the closest thing to NO maintenance I've been able to find. I just chop them back by 20 - 30 % once a year. One year for height, the next year I take out old canes from the centre.

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@ehBeth,

I shall go forth today and seek out both knock-outs ad Explorers. It appears that theres been a drift toward mainteance free roses . I like maintenance free.

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