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Two of the new knock-out rose bushes have survived our awful winter and, amazingly to me, are covered in healthy green leaves! 

Last year I had lots of flowers and they looked great. I assumed "easy to care for" as a license to ignore. By mid-summer they were bedraggled, leaves lacey, and few flowers. 

What fertilizing program do you recommend and what insect spray works? I lost several Photinia shrubs last summer using an organic spray. A garden salesman told me that organic sprays are not effective. True?

Thanks for your advice.

Following this thread, as we're going to have some put in this spring for the first time. I want to keep them gorgeous!!

For fertilizing, I have been using Rose-tone.  There are directions on the back of the bag for established plants and new plantings.  For established plants you feed them once a month during the growing season.  I fertilized my  roses for the first time last week. 

This doesn't help once you have your roses, but if you are like me and basically ignore them then you are better off buying "own root" roses.  With grafted roses if they die back due to an exceptional freeze the root will grow back the bush, but not the variety you originally planted.  With own root roses there is no chance of the other variety taking over.

I'm not an expert on sprays, but if you are having a mildew/insect issue, I would take a couple of the leaves to reputable garden center.  They can likely diagnose the problem by looking at the leaves and recommending the right spray.

PetuniaBird said:

I'm not an expert on sprays, but if you are having a mildew/insect issue, I would take a couple of the leaves to reputable garden center.  They can likely diagnose the problem by looking at the leaves and recommending the right spray.

I am pretty sure the insects last year were Japanese Beetles. I hope that the intense cold this winter killed them off, however, I would like to know an effective way to kill them off.

Is dry fertilizer administered to the ground more effective than spray ons?

Many of my clients swear by Epsom salts sprinkled around the drip line and watered in; gives a really good feed of minerals that helps in fighting back from insect attacks and also makes for spectacular blooms. I also know families that continue to empty their cool teapots under the roses; something about the tannins in the tea leaves being good for the roots/soil.

When I first moved here I totally re-did the front landscaping, cutting out the lawn and planting perennial bushes.  One of them was a teeny little knockout rose bush.  In 7 years that sucker has grown to be a huge bush with tons of flowers.  I'm constantly cutting it back to keep it in check.  Based on that success, I bought 4 more and planted them in the back yard -- and all 4 of them shriveled up and died within 2 years.  I think they really need a lot of sun, which the one gets in the front of the house.  Other than that, I do absolutely nothing to it.  I love it so much I'm going to plant them in front of my new house, which gets lots of sun in the front also.

Wasn't there a thread here last year about a virus that was killing roses? I think R Carter was the one who was dispensing the info. I had put in 3 knock out bushes myself after admiring my neighbors' bushes. They started out great, but by the end of last season they were not producing many roses, and I think they were growing in a way that Ron had indicated would be a symptom of the disease. I think I recall he said all that could be done for them was to get rid of the. I didn't have the heart. 

tomcat said:

To get healthy roses, you need to trim them HARD when the Forsythia is blooming = NOW.  Prune to within 12-18" of the ground, leaving only 3-6 stubs.  Each stub should have 2-4 new shoots starting.  
Then spread rose fertilizer around the roots, and work it into the ground.
Finally, dust against fungal attacks.

I believe that approach might be valid in a NORMAL season! My forsythia bloomed late and is stillin full flower due to the cold temperatures we are experiencing. Not normal.

My KO roses are growing and in full leaf now! Clipping them down would not be right. But I could be wrong !

Gardening is not for wimps!

Here is an article on pruning knock-out roses:

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/roses/prune-knockout-roses.htm

Regarding whether spray-on is better than adding granules to the soil, it depends what you are doing. If you are fertilizing, go with granules on the soil. If you are applying insecticide or combating a fungus on the leaves, spray it on. I have found in the past that for greenfly and other tiny bug infestations, a spray of water with dishwashing liquid in it helps.

We put a beautiful new white rose (Winchester Cathedral) in the ground last summer, and it's doing well now, but there's a lot of bare cane between the ground and the leaves at the ends of about three feet of branch. I was surprised my husband didn't cut it back harder than that, but I can understand not wanting to cut off the only leaves on the plant! I will probably cut it back again before we move.

It took until April 16 for all the snow to melt here, so for a long time this spring we couldn't even get to that bush. Not a great year for gardeners.

I will second Spontaneous's comment about roses that are grown on their own stock, rather than grafted onto something else. We had one revert a few years ago, and it was kind of nasty looking. Similarly, we always get something OTHER than hybrid tea roses now, because the hybrid teas are so finicky. Floribunda, Grandiflora, shrub, Old English... all worth considering for us. But no more hybrid teas.

Further to the rose virus issues...

I've just pruned ours though infected.  I'll try this for this summer to just see...

As to feeding, I really like the multipurpose concentrate from Bayer 3 in 1 for Roses:

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/~/media/BayerAdvanced/Product%20Labels/All-in-One-Rose%20Flower%20Care%20-%20Concentrate%20-%2032%20oz.ashx

Best Regards,

Ron,

The Secret Garden @ 377

We will be open on May 16 from 10am to 4pm through the Open Days Program of the Garden Conservancy.  

There will be a $7 fee that goes The Garden Conservancy.  

You buy tickets from TGC at half price!

https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/garden-directory/the-secret-garden-377

I bought that fertilizer you mentioned -- also good comment on it in Good Houskeeping. Now, if I could only open the safety cap!!

Well, it's been a few days and the cap is still on the fertilizer!!  Emoticons please!

I have kitchen gadgets for every purpose imaginable! It is impossible to press in places on this large cap while turning!

Are these manufacturers completely out of touch with reality?

Oh yikes! I hate packages that are difficult to open. I'm headed to HD tomorrow, and planned on picking up this product, but I may try out opening the bottle there. There has got to be some common sense left somewhere in this world!

This is on the liquid concentrate?

They must have changed the packaging

Good Luck,

Ron

 It is a granule formula.

the container is open! Took the thing back to Home Depot  and I asked a sales clerk to open it for me. He did it in 20 seconds! However he had large, strong hands. Which could press in and turn the cap in one motion. 

Now, any tips about fertilizing would be appreciated. I seriously neglected my garden for reasons many of you might recall, so I want to a better job this summer. Roses, annuals, perennials..how much, how often? 

Rule of thumb for me is to read the instructions and follow them, only a little less.

my knock outs are knock outs! Loaded with healthy leaves and big fat buds and blooms.

Now what? How to watch for bugs and such? Routine maintenance suggestions

All of my knockout rose bushes in the back of the house are deader than a doornail. The one out front though it growing like wildfire and I already need to cut it back or the postal carrier will not deliver my mail!

Sorry that I don't know anything about knockout roses, but here's another suggestion for an easy to care for rose:

http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/showrose.asp?showr=452

I just can't live without this rose. I've never had to spray or even fertilize. The shape of the bloom and the aroma are to die for. They are fragile: a transient beauty.

My knockout roses have been doing great the last few weeks. Lots of buds on them. However, I noticed this week that the leaves have little round holes chewed throughout the shrubs. Will the Bayer product help?

Spike_Jones said:
Sorry that I don't know anything about knockout roses, but here's another suggestion for an easy to care for rose:
http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/showrose.asp?showr=452
I just can't live without this rose. I've never had to spray or even fertilize. The shape of the bloom and the aroma are to die for. They are fragile: a transient beauty.

I LOVE English roses, and David Austin is a very safe bet. Heritage is gorgeous, BTW!

We haven't planted any roses at the new house yet, but when we do, I will be going for David Austin all the way. I would love to train a climber along the railings surrounding our deck.

with fingers and toes crossed..

That is stunning!

Just planted a bunch of these, any first timer advice? And continuing that, what plants do really well in our area (decent sunlight)

Depending on rainfall, water once or twice a week until established. I fertilize with Rose Tone once a month during the growing season.

In a sunny location, I have had good luck with the following perennials:

Limelight hydrangeas

Peonies

Daylilies

May Night Salvia