Oh, wow, I don’t like rose snobs………..So what, if the garden center girl doesn’t know what a Hybrid Rose is? The rose to end all roses for the past 15 years is the Knock Out® it needs little care, no chemicals, cold tolerant, and most importantly is prolific at producing flowers.
What’s not to like about the Knock Out® it sells, works hard, needs little care. If a Hybrid, is essential to your happiness, get out the J&P catalog and order on line. Chances are it will arrive in better shape than the plants a garden center would have to hold over because no one wants to spray harsh chemicals, prune constantly, correctly and take up space. No wonder we only know the Knock Out®. Knock Out®s are practically perfect, cold tolerant, low maintenance, low water and no chemicals needed. Turns out the Knock Out® does the job, even if they are over-planted by landscape architects, designers and homeowners. (I’ve been guilty, however no Knock Out® in over 2 years in our landscapes) Too much of a good thing, Knock Out® are now suffering from diseases and are paying the price.
We insist our roses perform or it’s down the rose petal path. IMO (in my opinion) roses don’t have to be high maintenance,
especially if the right plant, is in the right place!
If there not enough sun, STOP! don’t expect the rose to accomplish the job to put out buds and blooms, it needs an easy 4 to 5 hours of full sun in season. Roses like a good fertilizer too, along with it’s sunshine and air, roses want air.
But even these rules won’t help when the dreaded Rose Rosette attacks. IMO the best thing to do is remove the rose. We’ve heard the rumors; trim back, spray, but, IMO allowing to remain in the landscape only allows the disease to spread to other plants. But, if you do cut back; use protection, dipping tools in bleach solutions before moving on to the next plant……….mmmm why does this sound like a story repeated? Me, I say rip the plant right out of the ground, put it in a bag and bury it. Like any cheating B***** sorry, off track a little.
Keep harsh chemicals out of the garden shed and on the big box store shelves where they belong. Fungicides are not what the environment we share, you, your family, your pets, or pollinators should be exposed to. EVER!
GIVE IT SOME AIR! Good air flow is important to most plants, they don’t want to bake against the building, or blocked by a hedge row of dense hollys or crowded around each other. It doesn’t like it’s little leaves to be wet for extended periods of time (night, overnight, all day) the leaves should be dry after a short time when the sun shines the rays down on the leaves.
