Rose Petite Knock Out

* Common name: Rose Petite Knock Out

* Botanical name: Rosa ‘Meibenbino’

* What it is: The rosy-red Knock Out shrub rose quickly grew into a top-selling landscape plant after it debuted in 2000 because of its heavy bloom and disease-resistance. What some gardeners don’t like about it, though (besides the thorns), is that without hard pruning, Knock Outs can get even bigger and rangier than their three- to four-foot tagged size.

   To address that, Chester County-based Star Roses and Plants in 2021 introduced a down-sized shrub rose called Petite Knock Out. This one has the heavy bloom and disease-resistance of the original Knock Out but stays under two feet tall and also has smaller flowers.

   The flower color is a bit more red than the original and also doesn’t fade as much to pink as that one.

* Size: Plants grow 18 to 24 inches tall and about two feet wide.

* Where to use: Full sun is best, but shrub roses do surprisingly well in partly shaded spots, too. The Knock Out series is intended for use as a landscape flowering shrub in sites such as foundation beds, border gardens, blooming hedges, massed on sunny banks, or in any mixed garden.

* Care: Cut back to knee high in March before new growth begins for maximum compactness. Spent flowers also can be snipped or lightly sheared off to encourage continual blooming throughout the summer and into fall.

   Fertilize with a granular fertilizer formulated for roses in early spring. For maximum flowering, scatter additional fertilizer in June and August.

   No spraying needed. Water weekly during hot, dry spells… wetting the ground, not over the leaves.

* Great partner: Purple bloomers such as salvia, lavender, variegated liriope, and asters make good perennial-flower partners. Ornamental grasses and any green- or gold-foliage evergreen (especially boxwoods) make good backdrops. Creeping sedum ‘Angelina’ or golden oregano make good underplantings.