Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Knockouts

You know, I'm not a huge rose fan as so many of them require a ton of primping and babying, but I really like the knockout roses. Tough as nails, these ones.

I planted a couple of double pink knockout roses last spring behind the agave where I just could not get anything to survive. I also planted a yellow knockout rose higher up on the slope. And then, of course, it turned into the hottest spring and summer EVER in Texas last year. And on top of that, I went on vacation for 2 weeks in July and these guys received no water when it was literally 105-110 degrees every single day. This was the test. Would they survive? Well, I did lose 1 of the two double pink knockouts, but 1 survived and the yellow one also survived. I was astounded. ASTOUNDED I tell you. I bought a replacement in September, I think it was, when Lowes was having a clearance on knockouts. I couldn't find a double, but I did find a single pink that was a similiar shade of pink as the double. I planted that one and they are all thriving this spring.

Double Pink Knockout:



Closer:



Single Pink. The pink primrose around the base actually outcompete the chickweed, so I just let it do its thing and it will die back once it gets hot leaving the base around the rose weed-free.:







Yellow knockout. The blooms start out deep yellow and lighten to an almost cream color as they age:



This one is my favorite as it is heavily scented and smells wonderful! Like a tea rose all wrapped up in a tiny yellow package:

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