My Knockout Roses are over 5 feet tall. The article states thet only get 3 feet tall. I have the Double pink, red, and yellow. All are very huge! I guess you could prune them often and keep them small.

I tried that one year, Clint. Trying to keep them at 3' meant no blooms that year. I do know some people who prune them clear to the ground each winter, so the following year they only grow to 4' or so. People just need to be aware that they will get large and plant them in the appropriate place.
In my opinion, their best use is for color in a low maintenance area where they are viewed from a distance. They make a great hedge.

Thanks for your comments, Clint and Cindi. The tallest Knockouts n our Iowa gardens grow to about four feet. The difference may be in the climate. A longer growing season may well produce a taller rose.

When choosing a Knockout for potting, it is important to take into account the size of the container. The larger the container, the taller the rose can grow without seeming out of proportion to the other plants in the pot. Knockout roses--and roses in general-- should be pruned in spring. They will bloom for you yet that season, ofter with more blooms than if they hadn't been pruned. Here's a helpful site for pruning your Knockout: http://www.conard-pyle.com/ind...

Note what the gardener in the video uses for a pruner. It's fast and it's effective. The old notion that one must prune carefully, just above a bud does not always hold true, especially with Knockouts. I would add one other pointer. Do get out your pruning shears if there is any dead wood in the bush and cut it out. Be sure to clean up all the debris when you're done.

I don't think Knockouts are popular with gardeners. They seem to be more popular with the general public who don't want to garden at all. They just want something they can toss in a hole and it will grow. A true gardener doesn't mind buying a variety that looks more like a real rose with the extra care it requires.

An alternative Rose that I have been growing is "Easy Does It." It is smaller than Knockout and seems to bloom more. The blooms have more fragrance and they look more like a rose. They also stay free of black spot even better than the Knockouts do here.

Larry thank you so much for the idea of using roses in containers. I really had never thought of that before.
Great video on pruning.

Clint, I'm sorry to learn that I'm not a true gardener. Dang! All those 50 years I've spent in the garden don't count, the listing of our gardens in the Smithsonian's Archive of American Gardens doesn't count, and the article on our gardens in Country Gardens magazine was for naught. Forever cursed be the Knock Out rose. I am bereft of true gardenership. Alas and alack!

Many thanks for your kind comments, Lynn.

I didn't mean it that way. It just seems everybody has them here. I have them too though.

I knew you had them, but I didn't want to rub it in. Thanks for the fun.

You two are so funny.

Thanks, Lynn! I think what I typed didn't come out right. I had a very bad day today. Sorry if I offended anyone at all. I need to come to terms with my Knockout Rose issues.

Seriously, I'm sorry you had a bad day, Clint. I hope tomorrow goes better.

It's this rain we aren't getting. Clint is only about an hour and a half south of me, I'll bet it's dry down there, too.

Makes us very very edgy.
Makes our days pretty bad, too.

Maybe tomorrow, Clint!

Thanks, Sharon! The Japanese Beetles aren't helping much either. When I saw the word Knockout, I was reminded of them. LOL.

Things will get better. Bad doesn't last forever.

I think many people have Knockout Rose "issues".

The thread "I Hate Knock Out Roses" in Roses forum

I just want the blooms to look more like fussier roses' blooms, and maybe last longer after being cut. Now I cut them as unopened or barley opening buds, and they do last longer indoors.

I need to move a really huge KO rose this fall or winter, and it just put on a surge of new groiwth (after a mild pruning), and produced yet another flush of buds.

I assume that I have to wait until it's dormant before I dig it up, and that I should prune it very heavily before moving it to its new, poorer-soil, site. So I'm planning to let it get colder, then prune very heavily, then move it. And maybe split it into two smaller plants at that time.

However, then I would be violating this principle:
>> Knockout roses--and roses in general-- should be pruned in spring.

I think that moving the huge bush is impossible (it won't fit in the van), and also I won't get enough roots to support that much foliage in poorer soil. I am guessing that "pruning in late fall" won't be as bad for it as letting the foliage get totally out of balance with the roots.

Any advice?

P.S.

I hope to get some left-behind roots and suckers at the same time. And move those into some large containers next year, after they recover. Is 5 gallons too small for a KO Rose to last several years? Which is better, shallow like less than 12" deep, or deep like a 5 gallon Home depot bucket?

Or maybe I'll be able to root some of the prunings (although Fall wood will be pretty dormant and might not root). I assume I would have to treat them like hard wood cuttings?

P.P.S.

I have zero experience with cuttings or any kind, or at least zero successful experience.

Hi Rick--Yes, you can transplant your rose now, but it would be better to wait until early spring, after the last frost, when the rose is still dormant. This will cause less stress and shock to the plant. When you move it (or right before you do) cut the canes back to about a foot or so and remove any existing leaves.

A deeper container is better. You can just use any regular potting soil.

Unfortunately, I'm not a good resource for starting roses from cuttings. I've tried several times, following instructions, but the cuttings have never rooted. Try googling "growing roses from cuttings."

Good luck with your rose projects.

Thanks! I'll see if my SO is willing to wait until Spring. I think she's afraid that I'll change my mind.

When i think of it as a bush or hedge, it's gorgeous. But when I think of it as a ROSE, it isn't what I want.

I always figured that they picked the word "rooting" cuttings because it is so close to "rotting".