Amber sent in this question which I answer below.

Q: This will be my second year with my ko roses. The problem I’ve been having is they are all scragly, only growth mainly at the top of the branches. I pruned them a little during the growing season but they didn’t fill in.They were repeat bloomers and are still producing. I want a prettier fuller bush. What can I do to make this happen? ( Panama City Fl.)

Hi Amber,

A: The loss of leaves on the lower part of the knock out rose is more than likely caused by a fungal leaf disease like black spot.

Though knock out roses are supposed to be disease resistant, mine still succumb to some black spot due to the hot, humid summers in my area. With black spot, the plant’s older lower leaves are affected at first, getting black spots on them, then yellowing, then falling off the plant.

So you end up with a scraggly knock out rose plant with growth on the top half of the plant and not much on the bottom half. In hot, humid areas, you can’t get rid of black spot completely but you can manage it with good hygiene and a regular spray program which is discussed in this article on black spot.

If black spot isn’t affecting your knock out roses (though I’d say it could be considering you live in an area that has hot, humid summers) and you want prettier, fuller rose bushes be sure to give them a good annual prune as discussed in the above article, (best time for this in your area is February)  and be sure to feed them regularly during the growing season; every 6 weeks from early spring to mid autumn in warm areas like yours.

Paula from SE Michigan writes

“I recently purchased and planted two Blushing Knock Out roses. I live in SE Michigan and the nursery told me to plant them right away, which I did this week. So far, they look great. Here’s my question: I ordered one more which is not scheduled to ship until Nov. 9 and am wondering if I should also plant that one or keep it inside until spring? Also, should I cover the other 2 for the winter (I put a lot of mulch at the bases)? Thanks in advance!”

Hi Paula

Nov 9 is going to be another month away from when the nursery told you to plant your knock out roses “straight away” so you might be pushing it. I’d play it safe and keep it in your garage until spring. Water it once a month and it should be fine.

SE Michigan is considered USDA zone 5 (some say USDA zone 6 now due to the climate getting warmer) and from research I’ve done there are mixed opinions about whether to protect knock out roses in winter in zone 5; some folk Read more »

Cindy wrote in asking about using gravel as a mulch around rose plants:

“I was thinking of planting a line of knock out roses along the edge of the woods on my property. I wanted to line the bed with white gravel instead of mulch. Do you see any problem with this?”

Personally I wouldn’t use a gravel mulch around roses. The reason being is that they absorb heat and can get very hot in summer and adversely affect the the fine-haired feeder roots that sit close to the surface as well as make the area under and around the rose hotter, resulting in increased transpiration (water loss through the leaves). Read more »

A visitor to my site, Kristi, wrote the following comment and I thought I would write a new article about the benefits of seaweed in the garden. Kristi writes: I am a newbie so I am finding much help from this site. Could you please elaborate on the seaweed spray? Thanks. Well Kristi here is my response to your query.

What Liquid Seaweed Does For Your Soil and Plants

Seaweed is rich in potassium, minerals, trace elements and naturally occurring growth stimulants. It is one of the best things you can use in your garden and I use it on everything; roses, fruit and vegetables, annual and perennial flowers; they all benefit greatly from the addition of liquid seaweed as part of their regular care.

You can use diluted liquid seaweed in a watering can and water it into the soil at the base of your plants; or hold the watering can over the whole plant so it waters the leaves as well as the soil or just use it as a foliar spray on the leaves.

Liquid seaweed helps promote flowering, fruiting and robust health on every plant it’s used on. It stimulates root growth, and stronger root growth means better water and nutrient uptake to the plant from the soil. It also stimulates the production of more beneficial soil micro-organisms.

Read more »

black spot on roses

With all the wet weather Sydney has been experiencing lately, it has provided perfect humid conditions for the development of black spot on roses. I recently got this question from a reader and thought I would answer it here.

Q: have found black spot on my roses and have cut all the bad leaves off, now some one told me that soapy water will help this and affes can you please tell me pretty new at the game but love my roses. Read more »

bare root roses

Roses are such a popular plant in the home garden, with their beautiful blooms and fragrance, but do you know what to look for when buying bare root roses to plant in the garden?

Gardeners will happily buy bare-root roses to take pride of place in their garden. They painstakingly prepare the soil, plant  and water their newly purchased bareroot roses and are then aghast when nothing happens at the start of the growing season. Not one leaf bud shoots out from the branches. They usually put it down to their lack of skill in the gardening department but more often than not, they have bought a bareroot rose bush whose roots have dried out and created a dead rose bush. So they have basically planted a rose bush that was dead to start with. Read more »

Pruning Roses

Some folk are scared off by the thought of pruning roses, thinking that if they don’t do it right, don’t cut it at the right angle or to an outward facing bud that they’re going to somehow damage their roses. This type of thinking takes the joy out of growing roses. Read more »

Knock out roses are gaining popularity because they are easy to care for and fairly disease resistant. One of their selling points is that they are “self cleaning” meaning the petals fall clean, and while that may be true this article discusses why you should regularly deadhead them and explains the simple process of pruning Knock Out roses annually. Read more »

Knock Out roses are supposed to be one of the hardiest, and disease resistent roses available at the moment. In order to keep them disease resistent you want to plant them in an environment that’s conducive to their health and vigour. Follow these steps for planting your Knock Out roses and they should reward you with disease free growth and prolific blooms. Read more »

Knockout Roses seem to have taken the rose growing world by storm as one of the easiest, trouble-free rose plants to grow. Apparently this AARS award winning rose is the most widely sold rose in North America due to its hardiness and versatility.

This rose was hybridised by Willian Radler and introduced to the world in 1999. It’s a floribunda rose that grows to about 4ft tall (1.2m) and as wide, forming a small compact bushy plant. Read more »

Just about every lavender rose seems to have a fragrance, and if you grow your roses for their fragrance in additon to their beauty, as I do, you’ll want to make sure that one of the following rose plants finds a place in your garden.

Leading the field is one of my very favourites, Blue Moon. Not only is the colour of this rose bush enchanting but the fragrance is exceptional. It’s a hybrid tea rose that grows 135 cm (4ft 1/2ft) tall, with large, full petalled blooms that last well. It is no wonder it’s been one of the most commercially successful lavender roses. Read more »

It’s such a pleasure to get together with a group of people who share the same passion as you do. Joining a rose society gives you an opportunity to connect with likeminded folk who share your satisfaction of growing roses and who enjoy exchanging various tips and ideas.

Your partner or family members may not share your enthusiasm for rose gardening and it’s good to be able to talk with others who “get it” – the joy and pleasure you experience while pottering in and around your garden. Read more »

Picture this: You enjoy growing roses and one of your beautiful rose plants is starting to turn up its heels. The leaves have been yellowing and falling and the shoots are starting to die off.

You don’t know what could be the problem. You give it a good watering every few days, but it doesn’t seem to be helping – in fact the rose plant just keeps looking worse.

It is often at this stage that you think maybe it needs some fertilizer. So you go get some rose food and spread that generously around the base of the plant. STOP. This is the worst thing you could do for it.

Read more »

This week in the rose garden I discovered some black spot on the leaves of a couple of the rose plants. Part of rose care is managing rose diseases as soon as they appear on the plant. We’ve just had 3 days of rain here so there’s a lot of humidity in the air. The perfect condition for black spot to make its appearance. Black spot is the scourge of rose gardeners who grow roses in humid coastal climates like Sydney. Read more »

Roses need an open sunny position to grow best. A minimum of 5-6 hours a day of full sun is required for their optimum growth. Roses produce a prolific amount of flowers which take a great deal of energy from the rose plant. In order to keep replenishing this energy the rose needs Read more »

Soil preparation is important if you want healthy robust rose plants that bloom prolifically.
There are two ways to go about improving your soil for planting roses and they depend on the amount of time you’ve got before you plant them.

If you are planting roses right away.

If you are planting your rose bush right away, the only thing you want to add to the soil at planting time is Read more »

Before planting roses, it’s a good idea to check the pH and drainage of the area you are going to plant in. If you want healthy robust rose plants that bloom prolifically you’ll want to make sure these two areas are part of your pre-planting preparation. A sickly rose plant is a beacon to pests and disease. They just seem to know when a plant is doing poorly and zoom straight in for the kill! What goes on above soil level is a reflection of what’s going on beneath soil level, so it’s the smart rose gardener that takes the time to check the soil pH and drainage Read more »

There were lots of aphids on the rose tips and buds this week in the rose garden. The soft, sappy new spring growth on the roses brings them out in droves. 

Aphids on roses can cause Read more »

Roses are probably one of the most widely grown plants in the home garden – whether planted in a bed of their own or planted in amongst other shrubs. They are also one of the best loved flowers throughout the world – they are certainly my favourite – their beauty, form and fragrance is hard to beat.

There is a myth going around that roses Read more »