A Brief History of Roses
With Agway’s own, David Christopher
Roses have been around for 35 million years and have been cultivated for the past 5,000. There are about 350 different rose species in the world and 150 species in the U.S. alone. A staggering 30,000 rose cultivars are thought to exist worldwide!
A symbol of love and peace, roses have been used in every culture for decorating, medicines, and perfumes. Their petals are also frequently tossed as confetti at festivals and celebrations.
Roses are thought to have first been cultivated in China, where they were grown in the imperial gardens. Many of the roses we see grown today are hybrids and selections from species native to China.
The hybridization of roses over many years has now given us what seems like an endless selection of colors, fragrances, hardiness, and varieties that have touched the hearts of mankind everywhere.
How To Maintain Your Roses
Roses are often the star in your garden! But in order to keep them in top shape, you need to invest some time and effort. Roses require plenty of sunshine, fertilizing, watering, and deadheading, and need to be treated regularly with a disease and insect control product.
In short, Roses are a lot of work and require a lot of maintenance!
Some of the Roses Available at Agway!
Rose Breeding
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, rose breeding was revolutionized with the introduction of Rosa chinensisto Europe. This and other Chinese roses were capable of blooming repeatedly. European roses bloomed for short periods only once a year.
The introduction of roses from Asia also brought a new flower color – yellow. The introduction of this color changed the whole spectrum of possible flower colors. These Asian roses were bred with European roses to develop a new class of roses, the Hybrid Teas. By the late 19th century a rainbow of repeat blooming roses were created. Shortly thereafter, the Hybrid Tea rose became the widely grown type of rose.
Hybrid Tea Roses at Agway!
Today, Hybrid Tea roses still hold the distinction as being the most popular rose in the world. They also remain the most widely sold Valentine’s Day flower for decades!
But there’s still one issue with the Tea Roses…they are still susceptible to disease problems and required a regular spraying schedule!
ENTER THE KNOCKOUT!
‘Knock Out’ was developed by amateur rose breeder William Radler in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin basement in 1989.
New varieties of roses are created by introducing the pollen of one rose to the stigma of another. This process is called hybridization.
Once the pollen has been introduced the mother plant will begin to develop hips, which are the seed heads of a rose. Each hip generally contains 3 to 17 seeds and each seed will germinate to be a completely new variety of rose!
To produce cold tolerance and disease resistance, especially to black spot, Radler used roses from his collection that showed remarkable resistance to both.
These were Applejack (a fragrant climber with large flowers); Carefree Beauty (a repeat blooming shrub) and Eddie’s Crimson (a disease resistant, cold tolerant, bushy, low maintenance Chinese shrub).
Compared to other new hybrid roses in Radlers back yard test garden, this new cultivar was exceptional. The bush produced was full of dense pinkish-red blooms and did not need deadheading….dead flowers just fell off! Furthermore, the rose appeared immune to diseases, particularly black spot mildew.
A New Rose
He called his new rose ‘RADRAZZ’.
Not yet fully tested out, Radler was able to work with the wholesale nursery, Star Roses and Plants, in Pennsylvania to help develop and test the new rose cultivar. After eight years of testing, Star Roses introduced the new rose into the market in 2000 under the marketing name of ‘KNOCK OUT’.
It became an All-America Rose Selections winner that same year!
Many people consider ‘Knock Out’ a good example of the type of rose that will be most popular in the future. It is a landscaping or shrub rose in the Floribunda style, mostly disease-free, drought-tolerant, extremely hardy and amazingly floriferous.
Fun Facts About Knock Out Roses
- That year in 1989, Will Radler planted hundreds of seeds and only one germinated. That one seedling was ‘Knock Out’
- Knock Out roses can not be propagated from seed since flowers drop off before seed formation. They need to be propagated from cuttings.
- Today there are 13 color shades of Knock Outs.
- Sunny Knock Out is the most fragrant rose in the Knock Out family.
- Knock Outs flower from mid May until past first frost.
- The colors of Knock Out roses have significant meaning:
- Red signifies passion and a love letter to the world.
- Pink signifies affection and gentleness.
- Yellow signifies joy and friendship.
- White signifies love and unity.
- Cream signifies richness.
- Peach signifies modesty and charm.
- Coral signifies good fortune.
