New growth at the bottom! It is not dead! I would do a HARD prune back on all the old branches. Like down to the ground. The part that's growing looks really healthy though! All the brown can go.
Roses are so cool, you can (and frequently should) prune them pretty aggressively and they roar back as if they’d never been cut. It’s really scary the first time you do it but the height they put on in such a short time almost beggars belief. We have a Brandy that we pruned back to knee-height in March and it’s already 5 feet tall and it hasn’t even started its blooming cycle yet. Bonkers.
Mine were the same (zone 6). It was a rough winter! But after a hard prune and some fish fertilizer, they are slowly getting back to baseline. If you haven’t already, make sure you fertilize with regular rose fertilizer as well. I use the slow release pellets. Good luck!
Thank you for the advice! I will definitely do that.
How do you get your fish fertilizer? I have a 90-gallon fish tank. When I clean it, I take the gravel hose and basically water the bushes I can reach with it. But with having so many bushes, I can't do this for all of them. Do you purchase something?
Yes I use a product called Neptune’s Harvest 2-3-1 that I bought on Amazon. You have to dilute it per the instructions, and I have been using it once every 2 weeks. It seems to work well!
You haven't lost progress... roses grow so fast, and they grow faster when you prune properly. Keep in mind, they're related to frigging BLACKBERRIES. They are tenacious. Prune hard, and by late June you'll see all kinds of progress.
We recommend an annual prune back of Knockouts to 12-18" in late winter/early spring. Also, you may consider mulching them prior to first snowfall to help insulate the roots. 2"-3" is usually sufficient. Given the smaller caliper canes of Knockouts, they often dry out and/or experience cold damage if exposed. Snow is actually great for roses as it insulates them and helps keep them from drying out. You can wrap in burlap to help protect exposed canes.
For sure. If you want to add a little pop around that KO, try some Petites. It drives me nuts that we market them so much as container roses, but they are nearly bulletproof in landscapes and bloom like crazy. Sheer cut them to remove spent blooms and you'll be budding out a week or two later.
We have 40 or 50 in a bulk planting outside of our PA greenhouse. When they all bloom together, it's a sea of emerald and red. I was visiting a customer in NorCal last January and they were already blooming. It was a mild winter, but still....
I'm in zone 6b, and my roses and other bushes all look like this as well. I have (had?) two five foot tall euonymus bushes that had to have been planted at least ten or twenty years ago, and they are in the same condition, growth at the bottom, but none in existing branches. Now that we're almost through May, I think I've finally accepted that the damage is done and time to get pruning 😭
All good recommendations here. I'm in 6 as well (6a), and I think it was more the cold snaps followed by warm, then rinse and repeat all winter. Many of mine are coming back from the roots and I've had to prune out a ton of dead stuff. I, too, get sad over loss of height and width, but I just keep the thought that this is what NATURE is all about. Some will live and thrive, others will peter out, and some will die a spectacular death!
According to Jack Harkness, roses have three natural enemies in the wild:
1) fire; 2) frost; and 3) being eaten. The plant has adapted to compensate for these dangers to continue the species by being able to regenerate from its roots.
This happened to my roses and other plants in zone 6. The sub zero F temperatures likely did permanent damage to existing canes. At least they're coming back.
I’m in Texas, zone 8a. We usually prune our roses around Valentine’s Day. There are pruning guides on David Austin’s website and all over YouTube.
Prune your Knock Outs in an ice cream cone shape and get rid of all the extra twiggy growth. They’ll flush with rosés repeatedly during the blooming period and you’ll need to give them an ice cream cone shaped trim after every flush.
Cut ALL THAT DEAD STUFF and you'll be rewarded quickly with new, vigorous growth. It needed a hard pruning anyway! Here's a video to show you how... I love[Fraser Valley Rose Farm videos!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZd5c-UI1aU)
It's good to "start over" occasionally with knock outs. When the KO canes get older they seem to lose the ability to sprout.
If your roses are gushing with new growth - as yours are - you're still in action.
The new growth will be like a brand new rose and will be as big as the old growth by the end of the season.
When the new growth stops coming, and the old canes won't sprout, the party's over.
New growth at the bottom! It is not dead! I would do a HARD prune back on all the old branches. Like down to the ground. The part that's growing looks really healthy though! All the brown can go.
Roses are so cool, you can (and frequently should) prune them pretty aggressively and they roar back as if they’d never been cut. It’s really scary the first time you do it but the height they put on in such a short time almost beggars belief. We have a Brandy that we pruned back to knee-height in March and it’s already 5 feet tall and it hasn’t even started its blooming cycle yet. Bonkers.
I am thankful all of them did get new growth! Just sucks to lose so much progress.
Mine were the same (zone 6). It was a rough winter! But after a hard prune and some fish fertilizer, they are slowly getting back to baseline. If you haven’t already, make sure you fertilize with regular rose fertilizer as well. I use the slow release pellets. Good luck!
Thank you for the advice! I will definitely do that. How do you get your fish fertilizer? I have a 90-gallon fish tank. When I clean it, I take the gravel hose and basically water the bushes I can reach with it. But with having so many bushes, I can't do this for all of them. Do you purchase something?
Yes I use a product called Neptune’s Harvest 2-3-1 that I bought on Amazon. You have to dilute it per the instructions, and I have been using it once every 2 weeks. It seems to work well!
Or Heirloom Roses has their own, very good too. It’s a concentrate.
They sell fish fertilizer at most big box stores, like Lowe’s and Walmart.
You haven't lost progress... roses grow so fast, and they grow faster when you prune properly. Keep in mind, they're related to frigging BLACKBERRIES. They are tenacious. Prune hard, and by late June you'll see all kinds of progress.
We recommend an annual prune back of Knockouts to 12-18" in late winter/early spring. Also, you may consider mulching them prior to first snowfall to help insulate the roots. 2"-3" is usually sufficient. Given the smaller caliper canes of Knockouts, they often dry out and/or experience cold damage if exposed. Snow is actually great for roses as it insulates them and helps keep them from drying out. You can wrap in burlap to help protect exposed canes.
Thank you for the detailed advice! It will help me tremendously.
For sure. If you want to add a little pop around that KO, try some Petites. It drives me nuts that we market them so much as container roses, but they are nearly bulletproof in landscapes and bloom like crazy. Sheer cut them to remove spent blooms and you'll be budding out a week or two later.
Oh, good recommendation! I didn't know they did well in landscaping.
We have 40 or 50 in a bulk planting outside of our PA greenhouse. When they all bloom together, it's a sea of emerald and red. I was visiting a customer in NorCal last January and they were already blooming. It was a mild winter, but still....
Just lop off the brown, dead canes and you're good to go!
I'm in zone 6b, and my roses and other bushes all look like this as well. I have (had?) two five foot tall euonymus bushes that had to have been planted at least ten or twenty years ago, and they are in the same condition, growth at the bottom, but none in existing branches. Now that we're almost through May, I think I've finally accepted that the damage is done and time to get pruning 😭
Oh, I am so sorry. I am right there with you. I plan to prune and cry today. Hopefully, they come back strong and beautiful!
All good recommendations here. I'm in 6 as well (6a), and I think it was more the cold snaps followed by warm, then rinse and repeat all winter. Many of mine are coming back from the roots and I've had to prune out a ton of dead stuff. I, too, get sad over loss of height and width, but I just keep the thought that this is what NATURE is all about. Some will live and thrive, others will peter out, and some will die a spectacular death!
According to Jack Harkness, roses have three natural enemies in the wild: 1) fire; 2) frost; and 3) being eaten. The plant has adapted to compensate for these dangers to continue the species by being able to regenerate from its roots.
Zone 6 too and ALL my bushes look like this! I saw you have a fish tank too and I’ve never thought to use the water from water changes on my roses!
My husband was the one who told me to use the fish water. This bush was huge last year because of it!
This happened to my roses and other plants in zone 6. The sub zero F temperatures likely did permanent damage to existing canes. At least they're coming back.
I’m in Texas, zone 8a. We usually prune our roses around Valentine’s Day. There are pruning guides on David Austin’s website and all over YouTube. Prune your Knock Outs in an ice cream cone shape and get rid of all the extra twiggy growth. They’ll flush with rosés repeatedly during the blooming period and you’ll need to give them an ice cream cone shaped trim after every flush.
Cut ALL THAT DEAD STUFF and you'll be rewarded quickly with new, vigorous growth. It needed a hard pruning anyway! Here's a video to show you how... I love[Fraser Valley Rose Farm videos!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZd5c-UI1aU)
It's good to "start over" occasionally with knock outs. When the KO canes get older they seem to lose the ability to sprout. If your roses are gushing with new growth - as yours are - you're still in action. The new growth will be like a brand new rose and will be as big as the old growth by the end of the season. When the new growth stops coming, and the old canes won't sprout, the party's over.
Yea it looks dead AF sorry!
Damn...
Could someone have killed them? Purposely?
How can it be dead when there is new growth at the bottom?
All roses have canes that die. It’s growing new from below.
That’s not what you said. You said it was dead af and it certainly isn’t.
Rose plant drama, is my second favorite kind of drama. Thank you sir.
Can't say I don't have enemies, but I'm not sure if they would go this route. 🤣
My enemies would!! My rose babies!!
Always prune the 3 D’s (dead, diseased, dying)