Native Plants

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Monday - July 30, 2007

From: Cedar Rapids, IA
Region: Midwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Information on non-native Knock Out Rose
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I am trying to find out some information about a Knock Out Rose. I dont know the scientific name for it. I have been to different web sites to find pictures, size etc. and can find nothing. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You.

ANSWER:

The Knock Out rose is the result of several hybridizations of tea roses. Click on the highlighted link and it will take you to a website that has the answers to a lot of your questions. Most roses originated on the European continent or, farther back still, China. There are, however, native rose alternatives that you might consider.

At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we encourage the use of native plants in the landscape. From our native plant database, here are links to information on several native roses that are found in your home state of Iowa. Rosa arkansana (prairie rose), Rosa blanda (smooth rose), Rosa carolina (Carolina rose), Rosa palustris (swamp rose), Rosa setigera (climbing rose), Rosa woodsii (Woods' rose). From these sites you should be able to get bloom time, pictures (when available), size and so forth of these native roses. We hope that you will at least consider "going native."

From the Image Gallery

Carolina rose
Rosa carolina

Woods' rose
Rosa woodsii

Climbing prairie rose
Rosa setigera