Use Bare Root Knock Out Roses For Beautiful Roses Without the Fuss

There is a very good reason why the rose is considered the queen of flowers. Poets, songwriters and artists have all celebrated these lovely blooms. A well tended rose garden has a beauty that is hard to match. And the fragrance wafting off a beautiful rose garden is incomparable.

But roses also have a reputation for being a high maintenance flower. For this reason, many people shy away from planting and maintaining a rose garden. After several attempts and failures, you might feel that roses are just more trouble than they are worth.

But modern varieties, particularly the Knock Out® family of roses, have brought these wonderful blooms within the reach of virtually any gardener, of virtually any skill level.

If you want the beauty of roses without the fuss, try planting bare root Knock Out roses.

With the arrival of the Knock Out rose, many of the barriers to successfully growing roses were removed. They are very low maintenance and disease resistant. They tolerate both summer heat and winter cold well. They bloom heavily and are self cleaning, so they don't require deadheading (the removal of spent blooms).

You also don't need to spend a lot of time pruning to encourage them to thrive. If you want, you can trim them to keep them at a certain size, but this isn't required. If left alone, they will grow to about 3' to 4' in diameter and to about that same height. It is recommended that they be cut back to 12" to 18" above the ground each spring, after the last hard frost. Although this helps to encourage maximum growth, even that isn't absolutely necessary. If that still sounds like too much work for you, you only have to cut them back once every three years.

The drawbacks to Knock Out® roses

Of course, this relatively new variety of rose doesn't completely replace older, more established varieties. There are some negative aspects to Knock Out roses.

First, they don't currently come in a wide range of colors. Until very recently, they were pretty much restricted to red or pink. These are both beautiful colors, but when you compare to the rainbow of colors that traditional roses have been bred for, it might seem a little limited.

Second, most varieties have no fragrance. Half (or more) of the enjoyment of a traditional rose garden is the smell. Again, until recently, this was lacking in this variety.

However, a new variety, the Sunny Knock Out rose has recently been introduced. The blooms on this variety start out bright yellow and then fade to a pale cream color. This allows one more shade in the color palette. But perhaps more importantly, this is also the only fragrant member of the family.

Why choose bare root roses?

As is true for a wide variety of plants, bare root roses are often preferable to potted roses, for a couple of reasons.

First is price. Since they weigh less and can be packed tighter, which means they are both easier to ship and cost less to ship.

Second, bare root plants tend to be hardier plants. Since they are going to be uprooted, packed and shipped, only the sturdiest plants will survive that kind of treatment. Buying bare root plants generally means that the plants aren't going to be delicate, high maintenance headaches.

So, for the beauty of roses without the hassles, try planting some bare root Knock Out roses in your garden.