Rosa 'Radcon'

Summary

UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

Pink Knock Out was a truly superior shrub rose in our trials.  With mostly clean, dark green foliage and consistently rounded, uniform habit, it bloomed throughout the season with the largest flushes in May, July, and August, and a decent showing of blooms in other months as well (Table 17a). Early thrips damage mostly disappeared and only lower interior (and therefore unnoticeable) foliage showed any signs of damage. All ratings were very good throughout the season with no significant differences between treatments in any month or over the whole period (Table 17a). It is worth noting that, though the differences are not significant, the ratings for the Low water treatment were marginally the highest for the Vigor, Flowering, and Overall Appearance categories. There were no significant differences in growth between treatments, making this plant an excellent choice for a medium-sized pink flowering shrub in the Low water WUCOLS category.

As with most really floriferous plants, the one drawback was the period immediately following a heavy bloom before spent petals or calyces had fallen. In the fall, many open house participants appreciated the way the dark pink and faded, pale pink flowers adorned the shrub at one time. However, most made some notice of the undesirable habit of holding dead petals and calyces too long, even if they otherwise like the plant. If this were intolerable, it could be managed fairly easily by brushing the plants with a leaf rake. When queried about which cultivar open house participants would recommend in a professional capacity, Pink Knock Out was the second most common response at the Spring and Summer Open Houses. Additionally Pink Knock Out was the second on the list of favorite plants at the Spring Open House.