I prune all my roses the first of Feb so anytime would be ok.

Hi blamb!

I was wondering this myself a few weeks back. The following information comes directly from the Knockout Rose website:

How to Prune The Knock Out® Rose

Although it is not necessary to prune your Knock Out® Rose every year (especially if you like the size and shape), we recommend pruning your Knock Out® Rose (using sterilized pruning shears) once every three years in the Spring (after the threat of winter frost has passed).

It does not matter where the cuts are made or how much or how little you prune. This process will guarantee a cleaner and healthier plant.

Hope this helps, and "Welcome!" to the Alabama Forum!

Nelson

Thank you all for the response and the info. I planted some of the roses about 2 1/2 years ago and then this past year I planted the double bloom type, they are exceptional and almost carefree plants. I think I'll wait a few more weeks per the rose site. Again thank you!

Are your KnockOut roses better performers than other kinds of roses? How do they hold up to black spot? Do they make lovely buds and full open flowers? I've not been impressed with the plants at Home Depot, they look pretty ragged, so I avoided giving them garden space. The only roses I have are the bush Iceburg, Don Juan, Queen Elizabeth, Joseph's coat, Zepherine Drouhan, Lady Banks Alba,and maybe Just Joey survived the winter but I cannot find it.

Hello Moccasinlanding,
I think the Knockout rose is the perfect rose for me, very little maintenance! The double bloom is without a doubt my favorite, more bang for the buck. I've never had a problem with black spot, they bloom profusely through the growing season and require little watering and just a little fertilizer. I have started noticing they are being planted everywhere and I guess that is the mark of a good performer.
I did notice at my sisters home that the deer are very fond of the buds and blooms, although that is not a problem that I have, thank goodness.
Best of luck!

I've been suckered in before by claims that this rose or that rose is disease-, pest-, whatever-resistant. After three years my Knockouts have lived up to the hype (and I'm really not a rose person).

Come on Moccasinlanding - have you ever been that impressed with anything at Home Depot?! (Wink, wink!). BTW...how "temperamental" is Don Juan, and do you grow him "here" or "up nawth"?

Nelson ;-)

We planted Zephirin Drouin roses in 2 different places in
our yard,hoping for a real show.. They have been very disapointing, blooming only for a limited time, and did not flower again. Anybody in Mobile has a better experience? What
should we do ?
Thanksfor your help!
Micri

I'm in Dothan and have a Zeffy that is in it's 4th year now. I was told on another site that you shouldn't give up on this particular rose, that it takes it 3 years to start putting on a show. Mine did bloom wonderfully for the first time last year. It occassionally would get black spot, I'd say 2/3 of the leaves fell off at one point and it just regrouped and came back and put out a smattering of blooms in the fall. I'm expecting a lovely show this year. Zeffy's big bloom time is in the spring, and then according to what I have read, they should put on another smaller showing in the fall. They aren't an everblooming type. But the smell is heavenly!!!
My knockouts do get some black spot, I don't bother to spray and the spotted leaves just drop off and it keeps going. I suspect they could survive a nuclear blast.

Let me agree that the Knockouts are - well, knockouts!!! Loads of blooms all during warm weather, no black spot. The only problem has been aphids, and no rose is immune to them!.

Update on the roses.
Nelson, I really do apologize for not responding to your jibe about my Don Juan, up nawth or down heah.

That strong boy is down heah in Mobile. It is making a big show for me this spring, as is Joseph's Coat. And my two Zepherine Drouhans, either side of an arbor over the fence gate, must have realized I intended to yank them out if they did not bloom.....and both of them were loaded up with nice big hot pink blooms. So reprieve for them. I'd already purchased two AMERICAs and one NEW DAWN and one MADAME ALFRED CARRIERE in case I had to fill in their spots. Those 4 plants overwintered in a big tub of fine grade soil, and were in bud before they ever reached the ground. I also bought a red double Knockout. I think the other red one I have is just a Knockout, not double. I found a yellow one, which fades to cream as the bloom ages, and of course the single lighter pinks. Most of these roses I put in a new bed on a clay-based hillock near the street, where they get sun all day long but are shaded late afternoons. They are already blooming their little hearts out. Yes, the Knockouts are good. They make even a rose klutz like me look good. People look at them and think I am a real gardener!

The rose bed I created about a year and a half ago in Mobile has 5 Italian cypress in it, alternating with some low dwarf Korean boxwood Green Velvet I think...Green something anyway. It is a double sided bed, since no fence is behind it, and I made it to look like it could be mine or my neighbors, if you get the idea. It is hugging the property line. And in the front I have along the flat laid old brick border, rosemary officinalis...only lost two plants. At the street end of the bed, where I made a bulbous round termination, I bullseyed a fairly tall Natchez crape myrtle...which is of course a white bloomer that gives its all for 110 days according to the information I read.

Here is a photo taken a couple of weeks ago looking down the rose bed from the street:
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I bought two J&P roses last year. I hope they come back strong. One, SWEETNESS, is a tall lavender showgirl, a grandiflora, and it is unique. The STRIKE IT RICH is a rich yellow-gold, and it looks somewhat damaged still, don't know if it will make the cut this year or not.

I've decided not to feel obligated to keep a rose in my "collection" if I have to coddle it a lot. Either it earns a spot in the starting lineup, or it goes to the bush leagues.

One I'll always keep, because it was my son's favorite, is the Don Juan. Nothing can be more beautiful than its bud swelling and popping open, so red it is almost black. I think of him when it blooms on Mother's Day.