Helleborus Groundcover

If your soil dries out completely, it can repel water, especially if your soil is made up mainly of clay. To keep rainwater from running off into sewers, add grass, groundcovers, or mulch (no plastic) as buffers to stop the migration. They will slow down the runoff and allow it to soak into your garden.

Visit www.natureslawn.com for more information.

TIP: Ivy is not the only groundcover. Ferns, hellebores, lamium, and cotoneasters are some alternative suggestions.

Rose Double Knock Out

Here come the Knock Outs, well named for two reasons. They will knock you out with their ease of care; they will knock you out with their constant buds and blooms with no care and no deadheading. The first, bearing a single row of cherry red petals around a golden interior, was honored with an AARS Award in 2000. (All America Rose Society.)

These might very well be the first steps to the perfect rose. The only reason I don’t give them the "Perfect Rose" label now is because of their petal count, eleven on the double Knock Out™. We all still adore the fullness of a Hybrid Tea blossom.

The literature says the Knock Out™ roses will reach a height of 3 feet. By the end of the season, my Red Knock Out™ is nearly 6 feet tall. I cut it back by at least half every February here in South Carolina.

The original Knock Out™ has single cherry red blossoms that cover the bush all season. The flowers are in clusters above deep green foliage. A light tea rose fragrance surrounds the bush.

Rose Double Knock Out

Even though the Japanese Beetles chew on the flowers and leaves, these iridescent beetles only last a couple of weeks. Then the bush renews itself with new flowers and foliage. No need to pick these garden invaders and drop them into soapy water.

There are more Knock Outs added to the family. The Double Red Knock Out™ is not quite so large, in my garden, as the single. It stays a diminutive two feet, growing with a more open habit in part shade. There are double pinks, under the label "Plants That Work" which I will be trialing this summer.

These Double Pink Knock Out™ roses should be as vigorous as the singles. They had withstood the first frosts of the season last fall and still had pink blossoms and green leaves until the hard freezes hit.

Park Seed is featuring roses this week. Try one of the Knock Out roses in your garden. They can stand alone as a focal point or you can plant them in a row as a hedge. They are thorny, so keep them back from walking traffic areas. On the other hand, if your garden has become a pedestrian path, you can use them to stop traffic flow, in a beautiful way.

---Posted by Coach Anne, January 24, 2008---

QUESTION

Is there any rose that would bloom in my zone 6 shady garden?

ANSWER

There is a rose perfect for this area, a climber. Rosa Zephirine Drouhin climbs up to 20 feet, so you can train it to a wall or trellis. It is great in gardens with children-it has no thorns. The bright pink blossoms cover the vines in spring. It reboots with more flowers in the fall. The foliage stays very clean, seldom needing spraying. To top it all off, this old rose (1868) is extremely fragrant. I left it in my last garden. I plan to replace it here in my new garden soon.

ARS (Agricultural Research Scientists in the United States Department of Agriculture) scientists in Westlaco, Texas have found that Asian Cockroaches, B. asahinai, are natural predators of bollworm eggs on cotton, corn, and soy bean crops. They don’t hurt the crops, just eat the eggs.

I guess it had to happen, but it is hard for those of us living within the range of these pests to think of them as beneficial insects.

The scientists did say that since they will also invade homes, along with their close relative, the German cockroach B. germanica, they would never deliberately introduce them to an area. Thank you, Scientists! But, since they are already in Texas and other southern states, they are studying how best to get them to do the killing of major pests.

One way will be the timing of insect killer put on the crops. They are working on a schedule that would do the least harm to these natural predators.

Go to http://www.ars.usda.gov:80/is/AR/archive/jan08/roaches0108.htm for more information.