Kennett Township 'Garden Way' wins 1st Place from Keep America Beautiful

Kennett Township 'Garden Way' won 1st Place
from Keep America Beautiful.

It’s a great thing when a community comes together for the greener good. Kennett Township, where I live, is a great example of this community spirit. Several years ago Juergen Steininger, Joe Poppiti and Matt Sabo (pictured here) came up with a idea to beautify the main entrance into Kennett Square, PA.

This past week, that effort and the effort of more than 70 volunteers (yes, I planted my share of bulbs) was recognized by Keep America Beautiful, Inc. for its outstanding cleanup and beautification effort that transformed a barren traffic island into a dazzling island of flowers.

Keep America Beautiful awarded Kennett Township the national first place title for “Beautification and Community Greening” for its “Garden Way” project.

Some 70 voluntees, including the Lions Club
helped make the Garden Way a reality.

The Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) initiated the “Garden Way” project and provided funding for the initial flower bed preparation. Longwood Gardens provided mulch and plant material was donated by Zabo Plant, Inc. and the Conard- Pyle Company.

Some 70 volunteers from the community, including master gardeners and Kennett Square Lions Club, contributed more than 450 hours to make this project a huge success. Garden Media handled the publicity and did some digging.

Sue Waeber of The Garden Design Group designed Phase I. Nearly 30,000 blooming lilies and 200 Knock Out® Roses were planted in a 5,300 sq. ft. bed on the traffic island at the US Route 1 Interchange.

Currently half of the north bound traffic island is planted.

Phase II of the project was unveiled by landscape architect Margot Taylor. It builds upon the existing sustainable design, adding more than 240 new plants and bulbs, including Edward Goucher’s abelias, crape myrtles and weeping blue Atlas cedars and, of course, more Knock Out® Roses.

Every time I pass the traffic island I think of digging holes and planting bulbs with other people in the community, and I smile with pride in how a community came together to make this sustainable vision of three local men a reality.

Suzi
Garden Media

Knock Out Roses at the White House

Our good friend Susan Harris posted on GardenRant today a story about her visit to the White House gardens this past weekend . Here's a great shot of the South Lawn fountain surrounded by Knock Out Roses.

Susan says the fountain once was surrounded by bedding annuals but now shows-off low-maintenance and crowd-pleasing Knock Out Roses.

So just imagine how gorgeous Knock Outs can make your own "white house" look.

For more Knock Out Rose ideas, visit the gallery of Knock Out photos.

Suzi

GMG

Tough Love, Garden Style -- from The Wall Street Journal

Well, I'm back from my fabulous trip to France and returned to find 100 degree days baked the gardens in our parts.

But I must agree with Bart Ziegler of the Wall Street Journal who shares his favorite workhorses in his garden that survived the heat and lack of rain. He includes three of my favorites I have in my garden: Knock-Out roses, of course, Black Lace Sambucus and smoke bushes.

Bart says this about Knock Out Roses:

"Most roses are a mess in my part of the country, attracting bugs and diseases and eventually succumbing to a harsh winter. But there are newer varieties that perform much better.

Knock-Out roses are among the few types of roses that have done well in my yard.

One of them is the Knock-Out series (zones 5-9). They seem to avoid most common rose ailments such as black spot and mildew. Japanese beetles, which recently made their dreaded annual appearance at my house, do attack their buds, but unlike with most other roses they won't eat the leaves.

Read the whole story in The Wall Street Journal.

Suzi

Garden Media Group

June is National Rose Month!

If roses are America's favorite flower, Knock Out Roses must be our favorite rose plant! This not stop blooming machine out sells all other flowering shrubs, not just other roses. It's disease resistant, drought tolerant and begs to be left alone. And this year, Knock Out turns 10 years old.

So to celebrate National Rose Month, plant a Knock Out either in your own yard or somewhere in your town. Conard-Pyle recently donated 150 Knock Out Roses and Drift Roses to an America In Bloom project in the making. Gorgeous!

Here's another great idea from the American Rose Society: Since it is also National Library Month, ARS suggests sharing the gift of roses with your local library! The ARS offers libraries a discount subscription to American Rose magazine for just $25. Purchase a library subscription for your local library, and ARS will send a FREE copy of Modern Roses 12, a $100+ value (S&H additional $15).

Plus donate a Knock Out Rose bush or two to yiour local library to brighten up the garden.

And take time in your busy day to "stop and smell the roses!"

Suzi
Garden Media Group

Happy 10th Birthday Knock Out!

Happy Birthday Knock Out® Rose. You’re 10 years old! It’s time to celebrate!

I can't believe it was 10 (well actually 11 years if you count the introduction to the trade) that we first met. You were definitely gorgeous and definitely special.

Funny to think that you almost didn't make it. Like all great stars, you were not an overnight success. If rose hobbyist and your breeder Bill Radler hadn't had the patience of Job and a nosey neighbor, who knows where you'd be. But after 15 years of trial and error and years of testing in locations throughout the nation, you arrived on the rose scene, took the gardening world by storm, and started a revolution.

Rosarians hailed you as a “breakthrough shrub rose” when you were awarded the prestigious All-America Rose Selections in 2000 and the rest is history.

We sent baby Knock Outs to garden writers around the country who tested you in their gardens and fell in love. You were called the "no fear" rose that anyone could grow with success. And you bloomed abundantly and forever!

And then the word got out about what a great garden shrub you are and WOW! demand far exceeded supply as people flocked to garden centers to bring you home to their gardens. You have been stunning us with outstanding looks and carefree performance ever since.

Steve Hutton, president of The Conard-Pyle Co., says Knock Out success story of is second only to that of the Peace rose. “From the very first moment, we knew we had something special. “

Now, 10 years later, you are not only the most popular rose every sold, you are one for the most popular shrubs with millions of Knock Out Roses sold all across America. As a matter of fact, you are one of the few roses that thrive in just about every region of the country.

You now come in a fancy green pot with your name on it and a big tag that tells all about you and how to grow you. People won't be able to miss you at the garden centers and home stores across the country.

So Happy Birthday, Knock Out.

Suzi

For 10 years of Knock Out stories, visit Garden Media Group

Easy Earth Day Eco-Tips

You don't have to compost your kitchen waste or pick bugs off plants by hand to help the environment. From the red carpet to your favorite garden shop, "green" products are making it easy to have a beautiful yard while being good stewards of the earth in your own back yard. We here at GMG have gathered 3 surprisingly simple solutions for going "green" this Earth Day.

1. Plant, Plant, Plant!

Try 'Going Native' in your garden!

Long before cultivated gardens existed native plants ruled. Mother Nature designed these plants to thrive in specific places in the wild. "Natives should rule the garden," says Dr. Allan Armitage, world-renowned breeder and author of Native Plants for North America. "You pick the right plant for the right spot, and it will thrive for years with little to no care - and with a positive impact on the environment."

According to Armitage, native plants are perfect for low maintenance, environmentally minded gardens. After the first year, native plants give more reward with less work for the homeowner. You don't need to water or fertilize, spray with harmful herbicides and pesticides to grow a beautiful garden.

You can find American Beauties Native Plants® in distinctive pots with fact-filled tags at your local garden center.

2. Start with Healthy Soil

Pesticides and fungicides aren't safe for people, pets or even the planet. Eliminate the need for harmful garden chemicals by pampering your plants with healthy, nutrient-rich soil from the get go.

Healthy soil, rich in minerals, nutrients and 'good bugs,' maximizes a plant's own healthy immune system to let it naturally resist pests and diseases. Look for organic potting soils like Organic Mechanics available at your local garden center.

3. Water Responsibly

If you don't need to water your plants as often, you'll save time and money. But more importantly, you conserve water and protect the environment.

Substitute older cultivars with new and improved varieties bred to drink responsibly. Updated versions of classic plants like The Knock Out® Family of shrub roses require much less water than older cultivars while still offering the same great look gardeners love. Plus they are available at garden centers nationwide.

Happy Earth Day!

Stacey

Sunny Knock in Los Angeles Times

In today's LA Times, Kathy Van Mullekom writes about Sunny Knock Out:

New Sunny Knock Out rose coming to town

I will never garden again without having Knock Out roses in my yard.

It's been a rough year in local gardens, including mine, but the Knock Outs have performed superbly.

They've weathered the drought, need no sprays to keep them disease free and produced hundreds of blooms without removing any old flowers.

What more can you ask for? Hopefully, more Knock Out roses, including a yellow-flowering one called Sunny next year.

Sunny Knock Out opens to a medium yellow, and over time it becomes more pastel and eventually gets a pink tinge to some petals.

Steve Hutton, president at Conard-Pyle, Sunny's developer says this is not the Yellow Knock Out that many anticipate -- that's still in the works.

"As you know, yellow is the most difficult color to get disease resistance in a rose," Hutton says in a recent NMPro, the Weekly Nursery Management and Production e-newsletter. "This one has the disease resistance and garden performance we want, but not the true yellow color. That's coming, though."

If you have Knock Out roses in your garden, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I never remove old flowers and use only shears to prune them back in late February. No special pruning technique is needed, just cut them back about 12 inches above ground and watch them perform magnificently again. Since mine are relatively new, I may not prune them this coming year.

You'll find Knock Out roses at all location garden centers, including Lowe's and Home Depot. Many are on sale and fall is a fine time to plant them.

Copyright © 2010, Newport News, Va., Daily Press

For more gardening stories, visit Garden Media Group