Roses are a girl’s best friend, right? Well, maybe for some and maybe not for others. My wife would quickly remind me, that it is diamonds that are truly a girl’s best friend; not roses. Roses continue to be one of the most popular plants in the garden. There were over 1.2 billion roses sold last year. George Washington was one of first rose breeders in the US. I really like the old fashion Hybrid T roses and their splendor. This type of rose, which is often given at Mother’s day, is great but can be very high maintenance. Many of you have done a great job perfecting the art of growing these beauties. My hat is off to you!
Over the last several years we have seen the introduction of the Knock Out rose. This type of rose has given us an easy, low maintenance, multi bloomer, in the garden. I usually trim my Knock Out roses down to 6-12” from the ground in February or March and let them go the rest of the year with very little effort. It’s April now; you may be wondering if you can still cut back your Knock Out roses? I have trimmed mine back in April, without any problems. However, it will delay the flowering. My observation is Knock Out roses cycle in and out of bloom until the first hard frost, which we typically have in November. I like that I don’t need to dead head the flowers or spray for black spot. It has been said that Knock Out roses only need 3 hours of direct light. I have found this to be fairly accurate, which gives us another plant for those areas with limited light cycles. They are a truly low maintenance, flowering, shrub. Dr. Collins, from Mississippi State, recently spoke for the Lafayette County Master Gardeners here in Oxford, listen to my interview here.
Roses are a girl’s best friend, right? Well, maybe for some and maybe not for others. My wife would quickly remind me, that it is diamonds that are truly a girl’s best friend; not roses. Roses continue to be one of the most popular plants in the garden. There were over 1.2 billion roses sold last year. George Washington was one of first rose breeders in the US. I really like the old fashion Hybrid T roses and their splendor. This type of rose, which is often given at Mother’s day, is great but can be very high maintenance. Many of you have done a great job perfecting the art of growing these beauties. My hat is off to you!
Over the last several years we have seen the introduction of the Knock Out rose. This type of rose has given us an easy, low maintenance, multi bloomer, in the garden. I usually trim my Knock Out roses down to 6-12” from the ground in February or March and let them go the rest of the year with very little effort. It’s April now; you may be wondering if you can still cut back your Knock Out roses? I have trimmed mine back in April, without any problems. However, it will delay the flowering. My observation is Knock Out roses cycle in and out of bloom until the first hard frost, which we typically have in November. I like that I don’t need to dead head the flowers or spray for black spot. It has been said that Knock Out roses only need 3 hours of direct light. I have found this to be fairly accurate, which gives us another plant for those areas with limited light cycles. They are a truly low maintenance, flowering, shrub. Dr. Collins, from Mississippi State, recently spoke for the Lafayette County Master Gardeners here in Oxford, listen to my interview here.