About the name
Name. 'Knock Out' — for its 'knockout' resistance to disease and profuse flowering. A marketing box term that became one of the most celebrated names in the commercial gardening industry of the XX–XXI centuries.
Breeding. Bred by William J. Radler — an amateur breeder from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who worked in the evenings in his own garage-greenhouse. Bred in 1989, but it took 11 years before introduction, because Radler wanted to be sure of the stability of its health. Introduced in the USA by Star Roses and Plants (Conard-Pyle) in 2000. Code RADrazz. US PP 11,836. Parentage: (Carefree Beauty × Razzle Dazzle) × unknown seedling.
Significance. WFRS Rose Hall of Fame 2018 — our 8th card from the Hall of Fame of the World Federation of Rose Societies (alongside Fragrant Cloud, Iceberg, Friesia, Double Delight, Graham Thomas, Heidetraum, Just Joey). Also: AARS 2000, ADR 2002 (Germany), ARS David Fuerstenberg Prize 2003, Portland Gold Medal 2003. Over 100 million bushes sold — the most commercial rose of the XXI century. The progenitor of a series of 12+ descendants (Pink/Double/Sunny/Rainbow/Coral/White/Peachy/Petite/Blushing/Orange Glow/Easy Bee-zy/Pink Double KO) — most of them sports of the original. It turned the garden industry upside down: before Knock Out the standard was capricious HTs; now the 'trouble-free landscape rose' is a separate large category. People often write 'bred in 2000' — in fact it was bred in 1989. Not to be confused with Carpet Roses (Noack) — a different landscape line.