I saw those thornless roses at Lowes yesterday. They are tempting.

Which ones are those, Clint?

They were called Smooth Touch roses. They looked great and have no thorns.

Clint - Yea, I saw those @ Lowes. HD doesn't carry them. They're like totally thornless! I saw pink, yellow, & .. white? Reason why I didn't buy one is 'cuz they have no scent. To me, that's the major killer for any rose. It has to have a scent.

I like scent too. I think the David Austin roses are my favorites.

Thanks!

I'll pass on the scentless roses, too. Now I don't need to go looking...other things will jump in my cart if I do.

My sweet DH is trying to bribe me with roses to keep me from killing our neighbor. So far he's brought home 5. And one of them was Outta the Blue! Yum! And a Coral Drift. It seems to have a small amount of fragrance, and he likes the color and form, so it gets to stay. But I'm with you guys, if it doesn't smell good, I don't want it! Too many pretty roses that do! But my stupid David Austin rose, Janet, doesn't seem to have any scent to me. It was a gift from a friend, so I'm stuck with it, but I really don't care for it.

Outta the Blue


A DA rose that is just LUSCIOUS with scent is Pat Austin. I swear I can smell that one about 50 feet away. And, of course, I don't have one.

laughed when i saw the title of this thread!
I agree....yuk.

Mine are quite unattractive. I'm not sure how to fix them.

Taller bush in this picture is the Knock Out.

Chelle - Maybe trim it down to the ground? I've heard that's what you do w/roses that are too leggy... the ones that the bunnies ate of yours. Are they any bushier this year than last?

I fixed mine by digging them up and throwing them away.

chelle, are they getting full sun? They look like they are reaching for the sun.

Clint, I agree about Sunny Knockout, it was the worst rose bush I ever had. Hardly no blooms and they did not stay yellow. I have been happy with the Whiteout and the double knockout.

Toni, I love that Rose (Rosa 'Outta the Blue')

Cottage_Rose said:I fixed mine by digging them up and throwing them away.

Cottage_Rose said:I fixed mine by digging them up and throwing them away.

Yes, I need to do this, I know. It's only tough for me because I have a hard time removing anything that provides color. It really would be nice to be able to better see the pleasing roses that are behind it though. Especially since they're in front of that fence...you can really only view them from one side, or by peering around the misshapen Knock Outs.

Toni and Susan, thanks for your input, but I think it's time to let these go. It'll be interesting to see if I actually get it done this year.

Skiekitty said:... the ones that the bunnies ate of yours. Are they any bushier this year than last?

Chloris definitely is -the rest returned in pretty much the same form as always. Golden Showers still needs to be retrained, it looks really funny with a bunch of really long verticals ...with one bloom bud way out on the end of each.

They're ok at the denist's office with daylily Stella de Oro, but not in my yard.

That is funny how Sunny Knockout works great in some gardens and not in others. It might be Sunny needs to be more mature, more fertilizer, more sun to perform. My bush is pretty big and it is a bloom machine. I scratch in some time release fert every Spring, it is in sun from sun up to sun down position and it is planted in pure home made compost.

I have some red ones on a hillside because I like what someone said "Consider it as a blooming bush and not a rose bush". The hillside is across from a upper patio and needed some color on the hillside and the knockout was a perfect blooming bush all summer.

I cannot hate a plant because it is not what I want it to be. I have always felt every plant has value in the right conditions and position in your garden.

Cinta - I was thinking, maybe mixing in some May Night salvias w/your red Knock Outs on the hillside? They bloom all season, extremely cold hardy, tolerant of almost any kind of soil, xeric or moisture, they don't care...

I am also tired of the single red and hot pink Knock Out roses. However I am glad that Radler's Knock Out roses are so popular. I am also glad that rose breeders like Radler, Buck, Kordes develop cold hardy roses for those of us who wish to grow roses in cold climates. After July 4, they are on sale for $5 around here. My neighbors ask me about them. I say that they are hardy, grown on their own roots and will survive and flower with little fuss. They are more attractive than most surburban shrubs - my friend calls them "turd shrubs".

I wish that the stores carried a better variety of roses and that they selected roses appropriate to the local climate. However, of the roses offered for sale to novice gardeners shopping at big box stores, Knock Outs aren't a bad choice. Most of the other ones offered for sale in the stores in my area won't survive the winter. Some won't even survive the season, given their condition.

I grow Carefree Celebration, a coral colored Radler rose. It isn't fragrant, but has abundant clusters of double flowers. They fade slightly with age, but look beautiful in every stage. It is in the worst spot in my garden - a damp spot with dreadful soil receiving the brunt of the winter winds, ice, salt from the sidewalk, dog pee from the neighbor's junkyard dogs, etc. It survives without winter protection and blooms nonstop all summer. More people asked me for the name and source of that rose than all of the other plants in my garden combined. It isn't going to win any prizes at snooty rose shows. I am not into beauty pageants for people, pets or pants anyway.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose...

The Carefree Celebration rose and Johnson's Blue hardy geranium are my favorite plant combo in my current garden. I am planting them together in my new garden after I move. FYI, lots of people asked me if I was moving that rose. If I had left my garden behind, that would be the first plant that the scavengers dug up - and one of the ones most likely to survive.

By comparison, Abraham Darby has produced one bloom this spring. It was a beautiful, fragrant bloom, but I am the only person who noticed it. Wildeve, another pink Austin, is covered with its first spring flush of blooms. She is almost as hardy and free flowering as CC and has prettier, more fragrant blooms. I found Eve at Walmart for $20, but haven't seen any there since.

Radler bred a fragrant white rose 'Milwaukee's Calatrava'. I was tempted to buy one on sale from Edmund's, but I refrained. I haven't seen one in person, yet.

http://www.helpmefind.com/gard...

I tried an "Appleblossom" floral carpet rose twice - it died and was returned twice. i was also not impressed with the oso easy roses in the stores. The flowers were smaller and more faded than I expected.

Today may be the last relatively cool, rain free day of the season. Time for me to don my protective gear, get outside and dig up roses...I am working my way up to William Baffin - a monstrous rose with deadly thorns. He decided that this year was his "leap" year. My neighbors stop by to chat and ask if I am moving whatever plant that they hope that I will give them, but no one has offered to grab a shovel and help. One friend has stopped over with pates of food and another gave me some chocolate cake. I have some nice neighbors.

Moving day is going to be an adventure. I'll try to take pictures of the grand event!

Andi - I don't envy you moving.. that's the big big reason why I am staying in my house. I have gotten to the point I don't like my city (Denver has 31 separate cities), and I really don't like my county (taxes are ridiculous here, and then the schools beg for more money because they don't have enough money.. uh, 72% of my $500/year registration on my van went to the schools, plus $1600 of my $1900 in property taxes went to schools.. and I don't have any kids!!), but I am NOT going to be digging up 200+ roses. Uh, no. NO way. Nut-uh. No. To much like work... plus I'm afraid of killing almost everyone if I did try! But I had to research that Johnson's Blue geranium.. wow! Beautiful! Too bad it likes moisture.. I'm not really one for keeping moisture-loving plants. I prefer more xeric plants. And isn't it hilarious that everyone wants plants from you, but isn't willing to help you dig? Every time I've gotten plants from someone, *I* was the one who dug them up. I'd bring my own shovel, buckets, etc and do everything myself. All the person had to do was to sit there & look cute. But it's awesome that another neighbor brought over chocolate cake.. *that* always helps!!