22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
I share your detest for the red color of knockout. I don't grow Miracle on the Hudson. If you haven't checked HMF yet, it might be another good source.
MOTH was bullet proof in Encino and I've raised a few seedlings from it. The rose has performed admirably in Europe as well as here in the US. Robert Rippetoe has done well with it. He is obsessive about disease issues and as they are raised in the California low desert, his roses tend to be quite heat tolerant. No plant is perfect, but if it's one of his, you should find it heat, cold and disease tolerant. Kim
nancylee2, helpmefind doesn't list a US vendor; apparently some people have gotten it as a cut rose from a florist (it is a florist rose) and rooted it themselves. or grafted it onto rootstock, to get themselves a plant. This may not be legal to do if the rose is still under patent.
I have only had my roses 3 years, and my memory isn't that great so I was waiting to see which roses were cane hardy..now that they are leafing out I will start trimming them back to the ground (the dead canes that is. I hadn' seen the roses you mentioned so I looked them up. Very pretty. Which one (s) do you have? Would love to see pictures. Hoping they are all alive! What zone are they suppose to be hardy to?
One of the roses I lost was Duchesse de Brabant, a bit of zone pushing and now, dead. However, Cramoisi Superieur is alive and well although it never gets large. I think with DD planted at the soil level and then soil erodes over years...busy life without realizing it, live and learn.
Andrea, I will have to admit that my Dick Clark is own root and I planted it last year. It started out this spring with three decent blooms and is now forming several more, not sure how many yet. It's not very big yet though. I don't mind it taking until the third season, but waiting until the fifth, that's a long time Kentucky. I do think it probably does depend on the variety. It looks like the experts could compile a list of those roses that do especially well own root. My Big Momma bush is own root, in its' third season and is very vigorous, but I think it was more mature when I got it. Also Our Lady of Guadalupe, which I planted last year is own root and doing well. I had Marijke Koopman and it did good the first year, but died last year. I love that rose. I ordered another own root and a grafted one, so maybe I can do a comparison. Maybe being in a pot vs. being in the ground makes a difference too. I am glad there are own root sources available, because a few of the companies like Roses Unlimited and Heirloom do have a good selection of the hybrid teas, etc.
A lot of varieties, particularly older moderns, were never tested as own root plants from the start. Own root wasn't an option. Everything that came out was grafted so marketers could produce big plants faster for sale. So breeders didn't test them for how they would grow on their own roots. Now days people are more interested in the own root plants so more of them are tested that way before they're even released. So the wimpy ones never make it to market in the first place. Roses like Love and Mr. Lincoln are older varieties that probably have never been tested as own root plants. Dick Clark, on the other hand, is newer and maybe was tested that way.
In my opinion it's six of one, a half dozen of the other. Grafted roses grow bigger faster, no doubt about it. Own roots, if they're a stronger growing variety, will in time catch up to the grafted ones and may have a better survival rate in cold climates. But if you plant the grafts below ground a few inches they seem to winter pretty well too.
And then there are some varieties that are just wimpy no matter how you grow them! Don't ever expect Just Joey or Summer Fashion to grow well on any roots! Whether they're own root or grafted on either root stocks they're just not vigorous growers or bloomers. It's just the nature of the variety. IF fortuniana were winter hardy I'd go with that in a heart beat because it can really push a variety to grow and bloom, but it's not, so there you have it.
The pink and red knockouts have had better vigor than the sunny knockout for me. The whiteout (almost knockout) blooms as much or more than all of them, but I don't think it's quite as hardy, the bugs like it and it has slightly higher risk of PM in my experience.
Buford, what a shame. From the picture you posted, mine looks very similar to yours. Your comment about seeing one at Lowes that didn't look the same explains why i've seen a few pics of 'sweet vigorosa' on the internet that looked different than mine - same color maybe but not nearly as full of a flower as mine has.
Thanks. I did exchange them for two new plants that do look healthier - though they do have a few black stems. The guy said it is last year's growth. Obviously I'm not an experienced grower but that sounds a little wonky. Anyway, I'll give these a try. Glad to know this discussion is here for future questions.
If it's easy to just prune below those parts, I don't always return them. It depends on how quickly they bounce back from the pruning. But definitely cut off any black on any you keep. They should grow to be healthy in a good spot, but you don't want any of that disease to creep down the canes, so do get rid of it.
They probably just had too little light and/or bad airflow, etc, and caught it due to something like that at the nursery.
It looks like you might have another one there. In the pic above, the old-looking cane growing vertically to the left of your good green cane? Unless that's just fully woody and definitely very old, chop that one off, too :) It looks like maybe canker at its base, and you don't want it to creep to the good cane below it.
If it's just very old and dry, it won't hurt to leave it there, though, I don't think.
I would prop until the flush is over, then prune until it can stand up.
I agree with Michael, let it finish that gorgeous flush. Then you can prune it back some as you dead head it. As it grows back for the re-bloom begin tying it up to a support.