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We’re keeping it short and sweet today. This post is in answer to a question from Eileen in Southern California about Knock Out Rose care in the fall.
We can thank a gentleman by the name of Bill Radler for the very first Knock Out rose, which traces its inception back to 1989, in the cellar of Mr. Radler’s home. The original rose was red.
Today, Knock Outs are the most disease resistant roses on the market, they are largely cold- and heat-tolerant and bloom like crazy. In fact, gardeners in USDA zone 5 can easily grow these beauties.
Your rose will go dormant in fall and you can help it out in 3 easy steps.
- Keep watering the rose so that the top 2 inches of soil is moist, right up until your area’s first frost.
- No more fertilizer, though. Stop feeding the Knock Out rose shrub in August.
- Let the last blooms die on the shrub and allow the rosehips to remain. Start pruning again in very early spring.
