Anybody have any good tips on making knockout roses look knockout? LOL
Mine is starting to look bad.Its like they grow wrong, what I mean is they grow on a big stem instead of small ones and dont look full at all.How many times a year do they need cut back?I may be not be doing it right.
I have 7 or so & they do fine. I cut them back in the early spring (March) & then trim the blooms back from time to time all summer. Their best show is spring time.
thick stems, extra thorns, a red coloration to the leaves and stems would signal Rose Rosette disease.... mine got it a couple months ago here in NC.... it's spreading all over...if that's the problem, I'm sorry.....here's pictures of roses with the problem...
Originally posted by Toots: thick stems, extra thorns, a red coloration to the leaves and stems would signal Rose Rosette disease.... mine got it a couple months ago here in NC.... it's spreading all over...if that's the problem, I'm sorry.....here's pictures of roses with the problem...
From the site Toots gave it seems to a virus that can attack your roses. When I first purchased my knockouts, the dealer said that they seldom are attacked by pests and so have built a reputation for their good looks. Let's hope its a 'southern' malady; I'd hate to lose these. (I've lost enough other types)
If the local nursery cant suggest something, I'd call on the local rose society, or the national rose society. They like to know about infestations so they can warn other growers.
UGA, you have described my two knockouts also. Patty, yours are so pretty. Looks like they're in full sun? That could be one of the problems with mine as they don't get full sun. So Patty, do you fertilize yours?
Posts: 501 | Location: TX Gulf coast, zone 9 | Registered: Mar 19, 2008
No, it isn't just a 'southern malady'. It's been found in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, some Western states and Canadian provinces...if we have roses, we must be vigilant to eradicate any RRD infections. Such a shame for such a beautiful plant.This message has been edited. Last edited by: mgt,
~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I've decided to quit my job, drop out of society, and wear live animals as hats."
Posts: 7246 | Location: Black Creek, WI Zone 5 | Registered: Sep 18, 2002
SSTR thank you so much! No, I am a lazy gardener. I used to make the stinky tea for them, but it was too much trouble. Yes they are in full sun & irrigation.
That RRD specimen looks terrifying, like a plant from a horror film that fires its thorns at you and laces them with poison! I hope we get to see photos of healthy Knockouts from you soon!
UGA, mine have thick stems also but they don't have the virus. I would suggest that you take a sample inside a zip bag to your extension office for them to verify that you have it before you destroy your roses. I trim mine down to about 12" tall every spring. I also some times trim off 1-2' during the summer...it will make them bloom more again.
And the only fertilizer mine gets are some alfalfa pellets thrown on the ground around them in the spring & again in the fall.This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,
"The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion
I decided to pull mine up and thrash them..They was very ugly looking(nothing knockout about them lol).I guess this disease attacked them hard.Gonna divide some spirea and put them where the 3 knockouts where.I will never buy a knockout rose again.
I just took out my knockouts and gave them to my neighbor. They were beautiful each spring but then the crape myrtle leaves would come in and shade them, plus they would get too tall for the space so I'd hack them down and they always ended up looking terrible in the summer.
Last year I saw some knockouts with rose rosette disease at a shopping center. It was really interesting to see that first hand.
