if you planted them this year, that's about what would be expected. If you want a big display the first year, you have to -plant a LARGE specimen.

With proper care, they'll put on some size by the end of the growing season and next year you should get a nice display. Three feet is about the minimum spacing because these can grow .quite large in a few years and you don't want to crowd them.

This post was edited by nickl on Thu, Jun 6, 13 at 12:37

As nickl suggested, these roses can get quite large in a couple years. My neighbor's KO was about 5 ft tall and 4 ft wide--and she was always pruning it back because it was "too large."

In the meantime, plant a bunch of annuals in the open spots--easy and quick "filler" until the KO's get big enough to fill up the bed themselves.

Kate

You could have planted them a little closer. The three feet apart usually means "3 ft. on center". That's 3 ft. from the center of one rose to the center of the other not the outer edges of the branches. You probably could have put three across for a fuller look eventually but they're still going to take some time to get there. The good news is that KOs grow vigorously so you may have pretty good size bushes by the end of the season and next year they'll probably get to the size you're hoping for.

Yep. Put some annuals in there for now. Once it hits its stride, you'll be happy you spaced them that way. I have one in my front flower bed. Bought it as puny thing from K-Mart 3 years ago for 4 bucks. Stuck in the ground with some water and never bothered to do anything with it again. It is now 4 ft tall and blooms profusely until early Fall. She is quite sassy and even with a bit of shade from a crab apple tree, she's a show stopper for the morning joggers and passersby. Gardening requires patience. I find that starting smaller has created stronger plants for me. Give it some time; they will reward you in a year or so.
Oh! And there are some yellow KOs out there too.

I had rabbits chew our new double Ko's to the ground.
So I put cages around smaller roses now to prevent that from happening until roses get alittle bigger...
Just a thought....

I just used fencing I had laying around...
I have 6 roses out front & 4 roses are smaller ....
I'll let them have space this year to grow a good
root system... Next year I'll add some other types of
plants along with the rose...

{{gwi:286568}}

like whats ben said they do grow quickly, and do great where ever they are put. here are 2nd year kos i have.