Knock out Roses

[loyalgirl1111]

I planted 4 knock out rose bushes about 6 weeks ago. For the first 5 weeks they were thriving, blossoms and buds all over the place. However, in the past week we have had a lot of rain and it seems to have caused my bushes to lose their blossoms and they appear to be wilting. The buds appear to have turned brown.
What can I do to prevent this from happening? is it too much water or do I need to feed them nutrients?
I live in Nc and these bushes were planted on a hill in full sun light. The ground is clay however I added top soil during planting.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Loyal

[hendi_alex]

I had trouble with my knock out roses last year. Heck, everyone plants knockouts and they thrive no matter what the conditions, and here mine began to shrivel up and approach near death. I pulled them from the ground a couple of months into their second season, put them back into pots and moved them to my nursery area to try and get them back to health. They are looking great again this season. This fall I'll look for another place to try the roses in the ground again.

My only guess related to your site, is maybe work some sand or other soil loosening agent in with some organic matter to help fluff the soil and to help with moisture retention during dry period. Also, clay can often be relatively acidic. Don't know what the roses require, but that may be worth a check.

[loyalgirl1111]

Thanks for the suggestions. Think I will research the best acid level and watch them closely.
My fear is they have had too much water and because of the clay the roots maybe rotting. Think that is a possibiity?

[Wahrheit]

I planted 4 knock out rose bushes about 6 weeks ago. For the first 5 weeks they were thriving, blossoms and buds all over the place. However, in the past week we have had a lot of rain and it seems to have caused my bushes to lose their blossoms and they appear to be wilting. The buds appear to have turned brown.
What can I do to prevent this from happening? is it too much water or do I need to feed them nutrients?
I live in Nc and these bushes were planted on a hill in full sun light. The ground is clay however I added top soil during planting.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Loyal

I had the worst roses ever when I lived in Asheville, NC. After I dug through about 10-12 inches of clay, I usually hit beds of real hard sandy rock (limestone?) and it was awful. Wouldn't drain at all.
I also grew roses on hillsides and that didn't help much either.

After the first growing season, I realized that the ONLY way to grow anything there was in raised beds. The deeper the better.

I'm guessing your problem may be due to similar circumstances.
It might be a good idea to put them in some large pots (about 22-24 inches) with a nice light potting mix. That ought to at least help nurse them back a bit.
Knock Out's are very dependable roses, and are among the most carefree roses available.

[Duh_Vinci]

Does your soil drain well? Over the years, I find this to be probably one of the most important aspects.

Last year I planted 7 Double Knockouts (Very similar in their nature to Knockouts I believe). Some people don't take these seriously, but at that time, I just built the house, needed something quick growing and low maintenance to get me started. And I've grown to enjoy these very much!

Our soil is 100% Virginia clay, so the holes I made were about 3 times the size of original container. Even parts of clay from the holes mixed with basic store bought garden soil, added 1 shovel of peat moss and 1 shovel of river sand per hole, handful of bone meal.

Once per month, I add rose food (liquid form), and all seem to like the mixture (all other varieties too)... All have done exceptionally well. By now all are about 4 times the size of their original 1 gallon container (about 7-8 months old). I can't even count the number of buds, started to bloom this afternoon (after a week of rain)

Good luck with your roses! Wishing them fast recovery!

Regards,
D

[loyalgirl1111]

Thank you for your advise. You are correct I have red clay and have actually dug out bricks.
Thinking it may be best to dig them out and pot them as you say.
As far as a raised bed is concerned, how deep should I make the soil and should I wait until next spring to put them in the bed ?

[Wahrheit]

Thank you for your advise. You are correct I have red clay and have actually dug out bricks.
Thinking it may be best to dig them out and pot them as you say.
As far as a raised bed is concerned, how deep should I make the soil and should I wait until next spring to put them in the bed ?

You could just put your roses in a raised bed NOW, if you can prepare your raised bed relatively quickly. The important thing is to get them out of where they are presently growing, now. If you put them in a raised bed now, you won't have to move them twice, (if the plan is to temporarily put them in a pot) or pot them and wait till next year to move into the raised bed.
Roses are pretty resilient, any way you decide to do it, but the whole transplanting process will be much easier if done before it starts to get real hot, here in the South.

I used to make a raised bed no less than 12 inches deep, and would excavate at least six inches or more below ground level and replace it with top quality growing mixture. This would give you a total of a minimum 18 inches depth.

Normally, when I dig a hole in the ground for a rose bush, I dig approximately 20 inches wide, by 20 inches deep, and fill with a good growing mixture. Where I live in Virginia it's all mostly sand with clay.

[loyalgirl1111]

D,

I had these planted by the local nursery so I am really not sure what is in the whole. However, they are planted in red clay. So drainage is an issue.

I was hoping everyone would say the excess rain may have caused their downward spiral, but I guess not.
I am understanding that you put holes next to your bushes for drainage and it seemed to work. Am I correct?

I guess I have a few options here and need to decide what to do, before I have no choice.

Thanks!
Loyal

[Wahrheit]

I am understanding that you put holes next to your bushes for drainage and it seemed to work. Am I correct?

No. I meant the hole that you dig for the rose.