Twenty years ago Will Radler took the gardening world by storm when he introduced the brand-new Knock Out Rose. It was a truly easy rose to grow, that really did keep blooming and blooming without needing any fancy disease control or nasty spraying. Since then the original has been joined by others, and today you could fill your garden with different ones. The only thing is, they are all 3 or 4 feet tall and wide, so unless you have a very large garden you will soon run out of space for more. At least, that is how it used to be. Because now we have a brand-new member of the Knock Out family – a bush that is only 18 inches tall, but covered all season with gorgeous red roses that are a perfectly matched size for this smaller bush. It’s just as easy to grow, just as tough, and just as good at blooming continuously – that’s why it’s a Knock Out. But now you can grow it in a planter or a pot on a table, or at the very front of even a small bed, and even in the smallest garden or balcony. Truly, this is the rose for every garden and every gardener.

Growing the Petite Knock Out® Rose

Size and Appearance

The Petite Knock Out® Rose is an upright deciduous shrub, growing no more than 18 inches tall and wide, with many branches sprouting from its base. It has very dense and bushy foliage, with leaves that are 3 to 4 inches long and 2 or 3 inches wide. Each leaf is divided into 5 or 7 smaller leaflets, each oval in shape with fine serrated edges. The leaflets are each less than 1½ inches long, so the look of the bush is of many small leaves.

Almost as soon as the new leaves have matured, the first buds can be seen, and their brilliant red color is obvious even in the bud stage. The flowers are carried in clusters of up to 6 blooms, and each stem can have 5 or more clusters, so this bush is very, very floriferous. The flowers open into full, double blooms 1½ inches across, filled with around 15 petals and smaller petaloids, making a very full, rich bloom of vibrant red, that really stands out against the dark-green leaves. Blooming is more or less continuous, from late spring into fall. The petals fall neatly as the flowering finishes, and it doesn’t remain as a dry, unsightly dead flower. Rose hips don’t usually form, so you won’t need to do much, if any, dead-heading, as you must do with regular roses. New shoots quickly hide any flower stalks that might be left.

Using the Petite Knock Out® Rose in Your Garden

This lovely small rose is perfect for the front of beds, or for edging along a path. Plant singly or in clusters among other small shrubs, or at the corners of your beds. Fill any spaces between your existing plants with season-long color. Group plants by spacing them 12 inches apart. This is also the perfect rose for pots and planters. Use it in planter boxes, or grow individual bushes in pots to place on a terrace table. You don’t even need a garden to grow it – just keep it in a pot on your balcony. It’s a wonderful gift for anyone who has a smaller garden, and just as lovely out in the beds of a larger one.

Hardiness

The Petite Knock Out Rose is hardy from zone 5, without winter protection, into the warmest parts of the country. It will survive in zone 4 with good winter protection of the branches.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Full sun is best for the most blooms – roses reduce blooming quickly once they are in shade, but a couple of hours of shade a day will be fine. The soil should be rich and well-drained, and roses love heavier clay and clay-loam soils, as long as they are not always wet. Enrich the earth with plenty of organic material before planting. For containers, make sure they have drainage holes, and mix one part garden soil with four parts of potting soil for shrubs or trees, if you can, or use just potting soil.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Petite Knock Out Rose has been bred to have excellent resistance to rose diseases, especially Black Spot, so routine spraying is not needed. If you do encounter any greenflies or other pests, a simple spraying with non-toxic garden soap is all it takes to remove them. Mulch in fall or early spring with rich garden compost or rotted manures, and feed with rose fertilizer regularly, especially when growing in pots or planters. Water weekly or more through the summer months, to keep those blooms coming.

In spring, as the new leaves start to appear, remove any dead branches and thin, weak branches, and shorten back the remaining strong stems by one-quarter to one-third, cutting just above a healthy outward-facing bud. That’s all the care needed to get great results from this terrific bush.

History and Origin of the Petite Knock Out® Rose

Will Radler won the 2000 All-America Rose Selections prize when he introduced the Red Knock Out rose, the first of his break-through bushes with endless blooming and easy growing. That first rose, called ‘Radrazz’, had single blooms, but it was soon joined by the Double Red Knock Out Rose, ‘Radtko’. It was that rose that the French breeder Alain Meilland used to pollinate smaller red roses created by his own breeding program. Among the seedlings he raised from that cross he found a wonderful small bush, with dense, glossy foliage and an abundance of perfect red double flowers. He named it `Meibenbino`, and patented it in 2019. It is distributed by the Conard-Pyle Company of Pennsylvania, under their Knock Out® Roses brand.

Buying the Petite Knock Out® Rose at the Tree Center

This latest addition to the Knock Out range is sure to get everybody buzzing with excitement, and wanting to grow it. That means stock will be scarce, and sell out quickly. To enjoy in your own garden the first ever miniature rose in this great brand, order now.