My wife says that the monkey grass growing in our front flower bed will choke out and kill our knockout roses. Is that true?
It certainly can. The monkey grass roots will steal nourishment from the rosebushes and also valuable soils moisture. I would create some barriers around the rosebushes so they have their own feeding and water take up zones. Knockouts are hardy roses but need to have a happy healthy root zone.
There are the beginnings of red spots following the vein of the green leaf, which turn yellow and fall off. My mother is also having this problem. Our plants are large green and full of blooms. They seem to not like the really early dry and hot season we are having. We have 50 yrs experience with roses but never have seen this before. Thank you, Deborah
It sure sounds like you have a beetle problem. The red spots are where they have drilled in their snouts to feed on the juices in the veins. I would recommend buying some Bayer Tree and Shrub Granules and apply those at the base of each rosebush working it into the soils lightly and water it in. Follow the directions on the label for ornamental plants if they do not list roses. That should clear things up. There are other things that make the foliage turn yellow and fall off, but the red spots following the veins sounds like the insect issue.
I purchased a double knockout rose bush last year. It was PP16202. I have not had any problems with any of my rose bushes before. This beautiful bush, that I had wonderful roses all summer long, did not come back this year. I purchased this at SAMs Club in Madison, WI about this time of year. I am so disappointed in this bush. Can you please tell what I can do? Naturally, I did not save my sales receipt but I do have the tag that was on it. I hope you can help. I cannot afford to purchase any other one this year. My name is Marilyn McWilliams.
Hi Marilyn. I would suggest taking what you do have to the Sam's Club and see if they are willing to help you. Many times places such as Sams Club, Home Depot and Lowes just provide a place for a local vendor to display their plants for sale. That means that the actual store does not provide any warranty but perhaps the vendor will. Having the tag with number on it may be very helpful. If Sams Club does not offer much help ask them if there is a way you can contact the vendor whom supplied them with the roses.
I have three knockout rose bushes in my garden. Only one has budded and shows signs of growth. Is there anything I can do for the other two bushes to help them bud?
It really depends on the climatic conditions where you are. In colder climates it takes longer for the rosebushes to start getting with the program of growing. Until we get consistent 50 degree nights the growth will be spotty and slow to non-existent. In warmer climates the rosebushes will start forming leaf buds and leafing out far earlier. Since one is showing signs of growth and the others are not yet, I assume you are in a colder climate area. Give them more time in such a case. As the weather warms their soils home things will get energized and growth will start. Once they do start to set leaf buds and leaf out and the dangers of freezes and frosts are gone in your area, feed them and water them well. The rest should take care of itself.
What is name of disease on these roses which have brown spots?
The brown spots could be rust. Without seeing the plant itself, it's hard to know which one.
My roses are taking over. They are beautiful but starting to block out my windows. I was not able to prune earlier and now they are blooming. I don't want to kill them but I need my window screens cleared from the thorns and the bushes scratching them and getting snagged. I have screens that you don't see when you look through the windows. Please help me.
You can prune them back without killing them as needed. The only thing the pruning will do is to limit the bloom production. As they grow back from the pruning that you need to do, they will form new bloom heads and bloom again. After pruning them back, I would recommend watering them with some water that has a product called Super Thrive in it. The Super Thrive will help them deal with the stress of a heavy pruning. Knockout rosebushes are very hardy and will grow back nicely. I would be sure and prune them back enough so that they do not immediately grow back onto the window areas. Perhaps placing some ornate trellises that you can still see through in front of the windows to hold the roses away from them and the screens is in order.
We planted it 3 weeks ago. It was dormant. The foliage is doing great but when will it bloom?
Give new rosebushes plenty of time to get established. They will bloom once the root systems are well set. Also be careful not to feed the rosebushes with high nitrogen fertilizers as this will cause great foliage growth but will limit bloom production to no blooms at all in some cases. Their typical bloom cycle is about 5 to 6 weeks.