Ok, so since 2000, we have had this rose out there called "Knock Out."  Meet my Knock Out pictured on the right.  Need I say more?  This is an appropriately named rose if there ever was one!  No names like "Serenity," "Peace," or "Blaze."  No, no, they named this one "Knock Out" for obvious reasons!

I got a Knock Out a few years back for Mother's day and dutifully planted it in the garden, hoping it would make a nice addition.  Below is a picture of that plant four years ago, circled in red.  See it back there? I might have taken this picture in the same year I got it or maybe a year later - I can't really remember and it doesn't really matter, because this is a FAST grower, folks. 
 

And it's not only a fast grower.  It's virtually maintenance free!  So you stick it in the ground and just wait a while and before you know it, you have a behemoth like the one pictured above.  No muss, no fuss.

Knock Out Roses were introduced in 2000 and won the All American Rose selections prize that year for being "a breakthrough shrub rose."  I'd say so! Colors so far include red, shades of pink, white, and yellow.  This is a re-blooming rose that will give you a spectacular show in the spring (I took that top picture in April in the South - bloom time will be somewhat later in cooler climates).  It will then keep blooming decently all summer, although spring is still the most spectacular blooming period.  As far as fragrance, it is not the most fragrant of all the roses, and you probably won't notice any fragrance until the plant gets pretty big, but I have definitely noticed the scent as I walk by mine on a warm spring morning. 

If you aren't convinced yet, then let's go back to maintenance.  I have read varying recommendations on pruning and ignored all of them.  I have only pruned mine a few times, mostly near the ground because it has gotten so big it is shading out everything within a few feet of it.  It has responded by filling right back out before I could even get back into the house.  There is no deadheading required, and you can leave the rose hips in place with no effect on future blooming.  Pretty amazing, huh? 

If you are like me and  you just have to have more of this plant, take some stem cuttings of new shoots (they will be reddish) in the spring and pot them up in some good potting soil.  Place in a nice, safe, shady place for the summer and keep moist.  It will take maybe a month for them to root with luck.  I have had probably a 75% success rate with cuttings done in this way.  Sometimes they just don't take, so do enough so that if you lose a few, it won't be the end of the world.   Taking cuttings at other times of the year can work too, but I'd say that the success rate goes down to probably 40% once you are in the heat of the summer.  You have to be committed to growing from cuttings, as you need to wait until the plant is big enough to survive before planting in the wilds of the garden.  I successively give mine bigger pots for the first year or maybe a little more.   When they are looking about like a store bought plant, they are ready to be planted in the garden, where once established will require little care other than maybe watering when it's really dry out and fertilizing with a slow release rose fertilizer in the spring (just throw handfuls underneath it - do this for all your roses). 

Pests and disease are pretty much nonexistent with Knock Outs.  No black spot, no mildew, no nothing.  That's one of the best things about this rose in my opinion.  You can splash dirt on it, hack it up with pruners, forget to water, and forget to fertilize and this plant will still make you look like you have the Queen's personal gardener tending to your garden!

So next time you are at the big box store and happen to pass by a Knock Out, BUY it!  You absolutely won't be sorry if you have an appreciation for SPECTACULAR roses!