Will Knockout Roses Grow In Shade – Do They Bloom?

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One of the biggest draws to the Knock-Out Rose isn’t its lush growth or beautiful blooms.

It’s the fact that they are far easier to maintain than ordinary roses and are more disease-resistant (black spot and powdery mildew) and pest resistant. More Knock Out Rose Diseases.

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However, this doesn’t mean you can grow a Knock out Roses anywhere and expect it to thrive.

Knockouts still have some basic guidelines for watering, transplanting, pruning, and feeding.


The best time to transplant is late winter or early spring while the plant is still dormant and before new growth begins to push out.

One of the most important considerations when planting any ornamental is the amount of light it will need.

There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to Knockout Roses because what it can handle isn’t necessarily what makes it thrive.

The Sunny Knock Out Rose and The White Knock Out — in pots and placed by your front door so you get a waft of fragrance when you walk in or out of your house. 

Can You Grow Knockout Roses In Shade?

The answer to this question actually depends greatly on the cultivar you’re growing.

As a general rule, you should avoid full shade and give your shrub roses full sun when possible. They will grow best in zones 5-9.  

It is an easy-care ground cover rose. While the early ground cover roses tended to be real sprawlers, this is a more civilized, well-behaved, and pest-resistant cultivar. 

Ideal Sun Habits

The absolute best place to plant any Knockout Rose is a spot that catches the full morning sun, gaining shade from the hottest hours of the extreme heat afternoon sun.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for 6 to 8 hours of full sun per day.  On top of their toughness, they’re self-cleaning – which means you don’t need to deadhead them – and they bloom all season long.  

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Photo Credit: Instagram @edmundsroses

When possible, this period should be increased to 8 to 12 hours in cooler climates where the sun is less intense.



For more southern climates prone to drought and scorching heat, it’s best to pick a spot where the planet will get dappled sunlight for most of the day and direct sunlight, mostly in the early morning or late afternoon.

Knockout Roses that do Best in Full Sun. While all Knockouts can handle a bit of partial shade or dappled sunlight, they don’t all react the same way to it.

Most Knock-Out Rose varieties should be given full sun for at least six hours of sunlight during the day.

Placing these varieties in partial shade or dappled sunlight will produce fewer blooms and thinner foliage.

Knockouts are extremely heat-tolerant, so it’s usually better to give them a little too much sun over a bit too little.

Knockout Roses that Do Well in Partial Shade

Several varieties of Knockout actually enjoy a bit of partial shade without losing their intensity.

  1. Pink Knock Out: (Rosa ‘Radcon’) has light pink single blossoms. Pink Double Knock Out: (Rosa ‘Radtkopink’) Similar to pink, but with double blossoms. 
  2. Rainbow Knock Out: (Rosa ‘Radcor’) Has pink single flowers with yellow centers. The plant is a little smaller than other varieties. 
  3. Blushing Knock Out: (Rosa ‘Radyod’) This single-blossom variety is the palest pink of all. 
  4. Sunny Knock Out: (Rosa ‘Radsunny’) A bright yellow rose with the most fragrance. 

These include ‘Radcor’ and ‘Radrazz.’ When planting either of these, you can aim for dappled sunlight or partial shade, and they’ll produce just as many blooms as they would in full sun.

Double Knock Out Roses start to bloom early in the spring and last until the first frost. While other roses are dormant, Double Knock Outs are still bursting with aromatic blooms. 

Note that you may have to provide a bit extra care in colder climates to ensure they’re still getting enough sun.

Symptoms of Sunlight Problems

As with most plants, your Knockout Rose is pretty good at telling you when it’s getting too much or too little of something.

In the case of sunlight, leaves may turn yellow or drop when there’s too much sun or heat as a means to cool off.

You can solve this by providing extra shade or adding something to dapple the light.

Conversely, the foliage may become thinner when there’s not enough sun.

Too much shade will make the leaves turn extra dark as they attempt to capture more light.

Some may also turn yellow as the plant attempts to consolidate its energy. They are making it appear to be getting ready for winter. The long-term nutrition of organic compost leads to good rose success. 

Deadheading does offer a cleaner, tidier look. Often, people choose to deadhead to remove the faded blooms. 

You can amend your soil to raise or lower the pH as needed. At-home soil pH testing kits are available, or your local extension office should be able to analyze a soil sample for you.  

If you live in a harsh winter climate, add 2–3″ of mulch, leaves, or pine/fir boughs around the base of the plant.  

Use a balanced fertilizer or fertilizer formulated for roses from your local garden center and apply after the first wave of flowering.

When this happens, the best thing to do is try to increase its light exposure, either by removing sources of shade or transplanting the bush to a brighter part of your garden. It also helps if you mulch around your plants to help keep the moisture in. 

In the spring, gently remove the rose from the older container and shake off any excess dirt. Add the root ball to a new container filled with fresh potting soil and water twice weekly while the roots establish.

 If you choose to give them an additional boost, it is very important not to fertilize until after the roses are established and go through one bloom cycle.  

They’re also among the easiest to grow with many of them being hardy enough to survive without any special attention at all! 

The secret to caring for knockout roses is understanding their growing habits so you can provide them with what they need.