BEYOND BEAUTIFUL!!I agree, planting en mass is the best way to go with Knockouts!

Looking good--as usual. Very, very good.

Are the JBs ignoring them?

Kate

Thats just gorgeous.Couldn't ask for anything prettier then that.I have one in a hug pot,and right now,it don't have a flower on it,just lots of buds.

Jean

Kate, KO is the not the first choice for JBs but eventually they get to them, but it is such a prolific bloomer that it doesnt seem to matter.

Jean, good luck with your KO. I am sure that it will do very well for you. KO cannot not do well! In your zone, I heard that it can get huge..

KO's are a great landscape plant..but I wouldn't feel like I was really growing roses if that is all I had.. Can't cut and bring them inside and the individual blooms are puny things... Also because of the popularity of them many rose nurseries have stopped growing the beautiful roses we all really LOVE here.

I have a different take on KOs, welltravelled. Just think of all the people planting these, who would have never grown roses in the first place, or have tried the HTs usually sold in nurseries and stores and given up on roses. These KOs were my first roses and they did so spectacularly well, gave me so much confidence that I could grow roses well, that in one year, I went from 6 roses to over 250. now I have shrub roses, Ht's, minis...I see the same thing hapenning in the neigborhood. The novice gardener neighbor plants a KO, it does so well that before long other roses are popping up in the yard. I think that eventually KO increases demand for all other roses and is increasing the popularity and demand of roses in general. For ages HTs have given rosedom the tag of high maintanance disease prone divas and I think KOs have done a great deal in dispelling this generalization. IMHO. And your are right, having only KOs in the yard is no fun. Nothing like a bunch of high centered HT or fragrant Austins to cut and bring in to the house...

I agree with your pappu. Knockout is great for those baby steps. From there...there are so many neat roses...and the emphasis is for easier to care for roses.

They are certainly putting on a show.

Pappu:

That is just stunning. Wow! I realize your post is from a little over a year ago but I will try anyway. We are thinking of putting in a KO 'hedge' in the front yard next year. Some of the neighbor kids don't understand the concept of going around and not through my yard. At any rate, I'm wondering how far apart did you plant these lovelies? And if it is not being to nosy, did you buy them at like a Home Depot or from a rose company like Heirloom? We are probably going to need 10 or 15 plants and don't want to pay too much.

Thanks for the pictures. Truly lovely.

Kate

Hi Pappu,
That is one gorgeous hedge - one colour is definitely the way to go!

I also agree with your theory. Knock-outs can be the beginning of a downward spiral into...rose addiction. With me, it was a rugosa - easy, hardy, carefree; there was no looking back.

Judith

Exactly how they should be grown, as a punch of color. They look great Pappu!

Carla

Very Pretty!

Pappu, I agree with you completely. A few years ago I got a couple pink knockouts and really enjoyed them. So last year I ventured out and tried some minis. Right now I'm making plans for next spring's shopping spree which will consist of floribundas and one or two HT's!

Beautiful hedge, by the way!

Deanna

Thank you! This is their fourth year and they look just great. I pruned them really hard this year and this was followed by the cold snap and i thought they were goners but they have quickly grown back to 4 feet tall hedge.
Kate, they were planted 3 feet apart and they are regular Dr. Huey grafted plants from a local nursery.

Pappu:

Thank you for your feedback. Since I'm really pretty simple when it comes to roses may I ask another question? What is the difference between Dr. Huey and say the Knockouts I bought from David Austin this year? Including a link for the ones I bought this spring. Quite frankly if there is something more amazing than a KO out there (and that's what you are growing Pappu) I need to learn about it!

Kate

Here is a link that might be useful: David Austin Knockout

Pappu,

Could you please snap a pic of this years knock-outs? I'm thinking of repacing some hedges with these.

Thanks,
~Evie

Hmm, those shrubs that I have in the front, maybe they can go away...lovely, great job.

I am a convert to Knockout. When My friends in Maryland bought several-- a pink and a cerise -- I turned up my nose, but seeing them last weekend in the heat of summer in bloom in the shade, in a pot and in the ground .. they are just beautiful. The red-flushed foliage is the perfect compliment to the vivid colored one. The only thing missing is fragrance. It made me want to investigate the old musk rose Vanity, also with a vivid color, and supposedly one of the most fragrant. I imagine them planted behind the Knockout --

Yeah, pappu, you've got Knockout figured out. I've never seen them more beautiful.

Carol