My mother is an amazing rose gardener. Her rose bed in Ohio is full of gorgeous and interesting varieties that bloom beautifully under her loving care. She seems to know just when they need to be fed or pruned, and how to fight all the nasty rose problems like black spot and powdery mildew. She talks to them while she cares for them, and suffers along with them when they suffer. They reward her with lovely and fragrant blooms of all sizes and colors from late spring until the first frost.

Although my mother passed her love of gardening on to me, she did not pass along the wonderful ability to care for roses. I simply don’t seem to have the knack. To make matters worse, I live in Florida, where the summer heat and humidity is especially punishing to picky roses. For a while, I assumed I just couldn’t have roses in my yard. And then I discovered Knock Out Roses.

Knock Outs are a patented family of roses created by William Radler to eliminate the often difficult maintenance needed and offer roses that everyone could grow and enjoy. Mr. Radner bought his first rose at the age of 9, spending 49 cents at the local A&P. He was hooked from the first bursting bloom. His hobby expanded over the years to a massive garden full of 200 roses, but he quickly realized the maintenance and chemicals involved in raising them successfully made roses prohibitive for many folks. So, he set himself a mission: to breed an easy-case, maintenance-free, disease-resistant rose, one that could be grown in almost any garden regardless of zone, soil, or climate.

In 1988, Mr. Radler succeeded, and the Knock Out Rose was born. (Learn all about his journey and methods here.) The first member of the family was Rosa ‘Radrazz’, a shrub rose with single, hot-pink blooms. Soon, he had developed the Double Knock Out, Rosa ‘Radtko”, with flowers more reminiscent of the traditional rose – the rose shown in this post. More varieties were to follow, including a bubble-gum pink single and double, one with coral petals and yellow centers, and most recently, a yellow variety – Rosa ‘Radsunny’ – that has some of the traditional rose scent.

Knock Out Roses truly are suited to just about any garden, as my thriving specimen demonstrates. They are shrub roses, which spread to about 3-5 feet tall and wide in a growing season. They resist diseases like black spot, grow in a variety of soil types in zones 5 – 11 (and may survive winters in zone 4 with mulching and protection), require little fertilization, and don’t even require deadheading, although you can clean them up from time to time if you like. They bloom in flushes throughout the season, and year-round in warmer climates. Once a year (in the fall for cooler climates, in the early spring for warmer zones), cut them back by about two-thirds, and they will reward you with fresh bushy new growth and dozens of blooms. Click here for complete details on all the varieties of Knock Out Roses and their growing requirements.

Finding a rose I can grow reliably has been really rewarding. I recommend them to gardeners from around the country when they say they “just can’t grow roses”. What about you? Have you tried and loved Knock Outs? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!

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