Have any of you been disappointed with your knockout roses? I have one pink and two red and one of the red ones has had some black spot and the color fades away so quickly on them. (especially the pink one) I know it's been really hot this summer but I just had higher expectations from them. I just wondered if anyone else felt that way about theirs.
Shirley
Knock out roses
Where did you get your Knock-Outs?
You could call Chamblee's, in your area, & ask them if they have any suggestions to improve your roses.
:~)
Shirley, depending on when you planted them, they just may not be well established enough yet to put on a good show. Mine are always mostly dormant in August. The first of September I hit them with a feeding of Bayer Rose food granules and they bloom themselves silly until I cut them back in Feb. Mine bloom year round here, but are always a bit tatty looking with fewer and smaller blooms in August. I think the heat & humidity is just too much for them. When I cut them back, I add a bit of Epsom Salts and another feeding of the Bayer. Mine are usually covered in blooms, except for August. Hang in there. If they're getting enough sun and you feed them, they'll perk up. Here's a pic of mine from this year in April, just putting out after a severe pruning.
Crow
I do have some of the pink ones too. They are recent additions to the garden, but have done well also. I haven't noticed a problem with the blooms fading, but that may just be because there are always so many new ones opening. You can just see the pink ones in the front right corner of this pic. I used them as background plantings in the rear of the beds fronting the house. The pink ones were put in this spring, so not a year old yet. Maybe this info will give you something to gauge your's by???? This pic was also taken in April of this year.
I will take your advice and your's are beautiful. I wouldn't dare post a picture of mine on here, it would be too embarassing. This is the 2nd year for one and 1st year for the pink and one red. I was seriously thinking about taking them out and putting them somewhere less noticable. Thank you so much. Where else can you sit in your lazy chair and get such good advice but DG?
Shirley
I noticed that the knock outs that are planted in the medians near my house have been cut to about one foot tall. They're just about a year old. I don't think they looked as bad as mine do.
Smockette, I forgot to say that I got them at Lowe's.
I planted a lot of Home Run roses in September 2008, which I understood were supposed to be even more resistant to black spot, etc., than Knock Out. They were really beautiful in spring. Information I read said they didn't need to be deadheaded but I've found they put on a fresh flush of blooms after I deadhead them but that's an awful lot of tedious work. Mine have a lot of black spot and unhealthy looking leaves.
Question: What type of pruning do you do in dormant season? We have a collage campus near us that has Knock Out roses all over the campus and they are beautiful. Watered with sprayer sprinkler heads that spray right on them but not one yellow leaf or black spot. Mine are on drip system, so no wet foliage and mine have black spot!! I noticed last winter they pruned them SEVERELY. I mean, not just pruned the canes but also removed EVERY leaf. Wondering if that is what I should do this winter ??
Glenna
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Mine are on a sprinkler system, and the leaves get wet every morning from the spray. Mine get a really heavy prune in late Jan or early Feb, down to about 12 to 18 inches tall. I don't thin them as you do with Tee roses, just whack them back like a crew cut. I also don't remove all the leaves. They almost immediately literally burst into the most gorgeous burgundy/bronze new growth and set buds within days. They bloom non stop until they get a bit tired from the heat in August. There will be some blooms then, but not the huge amount that's normal for these roses.
My HomeRun is looking pretty good. I haven't had any problems with blackspot,especially since it has been so dry this year. My Pink Knockout doesn't look as good though and I think it is because I didn't prune it as hard this last winter. This year I'm going to be a lot more severe to try and get them in better shape.I'm really going to get the biggest canes out since hopefully it will ebcourage some thinner,leafier canes to emerge.
Do your blooms fade out after a couple of days? The pink ones are the worse about fading but the red do too. That would be from the sun I guess. They do get a full day's sun where they are located. I have very little areas of sun in my yard and the back is all shade. I guess I thought because we moved to Tyler I could grow roses. Ha!
My Homerun seems to hold its color better, but it also is not in full sun all day. It gets some shade late in the afternoon.All the roses have struggled this year it seems because of the intense heat. I hope things look better once it cools off. It doesn't feel like I've had much garden time this summer. too hot to venture outside for long..