Gardening tips and tricks for beginners
Ready to elevate your gardening game? These 15 tips will help you grow a greener, healthier garden indoors and out.
A couple of days before Mother’s Day, there was a day to celebrate in the world of horticulture. Friday, May 9, was National Knock Out Rose Day. This is the first year this day has been recognized. Star Roses and Plants released the first Knock Out roses in the year 2000. They are celebrating the 25th anniversary of this release.
Before the Knock Out rose was developed and released, Bloomin was a customer of Star Roses. Roses were the only plants we potted and grew at our store. This was because roses are very easy to grow. We would buy bare-root rose stock from Star. We potted them in the winter to sell in the spring.
These were the traditional roses, like hybrid tea and climbing roses. We also sold shrub roses, which is what Knock Outs are. At this time, shrub roses were just becoming popular because they could be used in landscapes and required less maintenance than traditional roses.
A then amateur rose breeder named William Radler developed the Knock Out rose. He brought the rose to Star Roses, touting that they would bloom almost non-stop from spring through the fall. They were also extremely resistant to insect and disease problems. Insects and diseases are typically the biggest challenges related to roses.
Roses go through a two-year rating testing process by the American Society of Roses. The test results of the Knock Out rose were better than any rose before. They were so good that they thought they were flawed. They held the roses back to put them through the process a second time. The results came back just as good the second time.
Our friends at Star Roses gave us six samples of this new rose in 1999. They said it was the best rose they ever produced. Throughout the 1990s, my dad, Denny McKeown, was at the peak of his popularity with his gardening radio and TV shows. Back then, if you had a plant or product you wanted to promote, you needed to have Denny on board.
My dad took three and planted them in his yard. I planted the other three. By the end of our first summer with these new roses, we knew Star Roses had given us the best rose we had ever grown.
My dad started talking about them on his radio show. He called them the “easiest blooming plant you can grow.” Everyone wanted them. They bought the roses and planted them. Then the neighbors wanted some too. The demand for this plant was greater than any plant we ever sold. One year, at our garden store, we sold 5,000 Knock Out roses.
Over time, the resistance to insects started to decline. There is an insect called a rose slug that will chew holes in the leaves. The damage will not hurt these roses because Knock Outs are so tough. The insects can be treated with insecticides. You can also hard prune the damage mid-season. This will stimulate new growth and new flowers.
The popularity of these roses has diminished over the 25 years. I think this is why they are promoting the 25th anniversary. I would agree they deserve a resurgence in popularity.
We always loved selling Knock Out roses, and we still do, because we knew it was a plant that would bring easy success to the garden. Ordinary roses have always been a challenge to grow. Roses are not for part-time gardeners. This ended with the introduction of the Knock Out roses.
If you want a flowering shrub with blooms from the middle of May until the middle of November, you only have one choice – Knock Out roses. They require a little more maintenance than they did in 2000, but they are still very easy. When you buy them at a full-service garden center, they will help you with the insect control needed.
