As an ARS Master Rosarian, I’m always quite busy taking phone calls and emails about rose culture, especially about easy roses. I love roses and I love people, and I am always ready to help wherever I can. I have gotten a number of panic calls this summer, and no wonder! First the weather was dry as a bone, and when the rain came it was downpours that ran off instead of soaking the ground. Then, back to dry conditions…you get the idea. It was probably much the same where you live.

Many of the calls I have received this summer were about Knock Out roses. These gardeners have been really upset. Some of them planted their roses a few years ago, and they did just fine until this summer. Some of them planted their Knock Outs this year, and a couple of months later, they dropped all their leaves.

Knock Out & Easy Roses

I have heard that Knock Out roses are supposed to be insect resistant. I have heard that they are supposed to be NO CARE roses. Additionally, I have had folks tell me in a shocked tone of voice that the only reason they planted these roses was because they assumed that all they had to do was plant them and forget about them. And now they are upset because their roses look like skeletons as all the leaves have fallen off and their garden looks like a mess.

Okay, everybody, here’s the scoop. Knock Outs and all the easy care shrub roses are just that…EASY care roses, not NO care roses!! Knock Outs and the other shrub rose counterparts like ‘Home Run’ are roses that grow large very fast. Most people aren’t very judicious about pruning them, and so after a few years they get very woody and can become non-productive as a profuse bloomer. A little secret to these babies? Every few years, prune them hard to encourage nice, new, green basal breaks which will bloom like crazy. Besides, what good are these roses if you have to get up on the roof to enjoy their blossoms? Pruning helps to shape the bushes and keep productive canes coming. Whack them back in the Fall, and shape the bushes in the spring.

Plant Care Tips

Scoop, part two! Knock Out roses and all roses are living plants, and roses are some of the thirstiest of all!! I give my hybrid teas five gallons of water delivered with my watering wand every week in the summer if there is no rain. That translates to one inch of rain per week during the growing season. The shrub roses are usually very large and could probably benefit from even more than that inch of rain, but the skies didn’t do a very good job of delivering that life-giving water this year, so please don’t forget to water your roses!

All the folks that had their leaves drop off this year could have prevented that by applying water to the soil around the base of the plant. I have seen a plethora of hips all over these shrub roses this summer, where normally the plants don’t form seeds. I think that with the drought conditions they put all their energy into seed production because they felt the need to reproduce themselves before they died from lack of water…that’s what plants do when they are very stressed.

What To Do

So if you want your shrub roses to be beautiful, give them the minimal care they need. If you prune your bushes well and you water well, you won’t have to fertilize as often because all that healthy new growth will be able to photosynthesize much more effectively. Old, woody growth just seems to languish. That’s all there is to it! Water, sunshine, and an occasional pruning, and your shrubs will be as lovely as they can be.

After giving this advice, I still had one lady who asked, ‘Isn’t there something I can plant that I don’t have to do anything with?’ I said, ‘Well, you can go to the craft store and pick up a plastic plant.’ Sheesh!