15 Easy Roses That Are Not Knock Out Roses

Love easy-to-grow roses but want a change from the ubiquitous Knock Outs? Give these fuss-free alternatives a spot in your garden.

April 13, 2021

By: Leanne Potts

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Photo By: Heirloom Roses

Photo By: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia

Photo By: Heirloom Roses

Photo By: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia

Photo By: Heirloom Roses

Photo By: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia

Photo By: Heirloom Roses

Photo By: Syl Arena

Bonica

Yes, we all love Knock Out roses because they are so darn easy to grow. But admit it, some of you are a little tired of seeing them absolutely everywhere. For those of you looking for roses that are not divas but also not Knock Outs, we bring you alternatives like the Bonica, a shrub rose that grows lush sprays of pink blooms that pop against dark, glossy green leaves. This small, spreading shrub is a repeat bloomer that will keep flowers in your yard from spring to fall, just like Knock Out roses do. Unlike most Knock Outs, Bonica's blooms are replaced by bright red rose hips that last deep into winter. Bonica is disease resistant and its blooms have a light fragrance. The shrub grows 3 to 4 feet tall and spreads to 5 feet, so it's a good choice for a low, flowering hedge. Zones: 4 to 9.

Carefree Beauty

This shrub rose produces clusters of deep pink flowers throughout the growing season. Once the flowers are gone, the bush produces large, orange rose hips that stay on the plant deep into winter, giving color when the landscape is gray. Developed in the 1970s by an Iowa State University professor to withstand Midwestern winters, Carefree Beauty also thrives in hot, dry conditions. It grows to 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide, so it's a good choice as a specimen plant or as an accent for perennial borders. Remember, all roses need 6 hours of sun a day to be their bloomiest. Even these easy roses won't do well in the shade. Zones: 4 to 9.

Iceberg

This popular rose produces clusters of showy white blooms all summer long. Iceberg is an easy-care variety that is nearly thornless and very disease resistant. Iceberg grows to 4 feet high and 3 feet wide and looks fabulous in mass plantings. Iceberg roses are most commonly available as a shrub, but there’s a climbing variety of Iceberg as well that can be trained to a trellis or fence. Zones: 4 to 9.

Nitty Gritty Peach

This rose is part of the Nitty Gritty Rose Collection introduced by Monrovia in 2021. Available in five colors, Nitty Gritty roses need little care and give you continuous blooms. At 3 feet high and 4 feet wide, they can be used as flowering ground covers or as edging for a shrub border. Nitty Gritty roses are fragrant and disease-resistant, a combo you don't often get in roses. Zones: 4 to 9.

Francis Meiland

This old-fashioned hybrid tea rose produces very large, shell pink blooms up to 5 inches in diameter. The blooms have a rich, old rose fragrance and bloom one at a time on long stems ideal for cutting. Francis Meiland blooms continuously from spring to fall and is disease resistant. Shrubs grow to 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide, so it's an excellent choice for beds, borders and flowering hedges. Zones: 5 to 9.

Flower Carpet Pink

Flower Carpet Pink is part of the carpet rose series bred by Anthony Tesselaar Plants. Carpet roses are the world's top selling groundcover rose, and once established they’ll produce thousands of blooms from spring to fall. They're low maintenance, disease resistant and drought tolerant. Flower Carpet roses grow into a low, dense, compact bush that are about 2.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Zones: 5 to 11.

Flower Carpet White

This is another rose in the carpet rose series from Tesselaar. This is a fuss-free shrub that blooms continuously all season. Flower Carpet White roses are resistant to mildew and black spot, that slayer of roses, and tolerant of drought once established. Use as a low hedge along a sidewalk or as groundcover in a sunny border. Zones: 5 to 10.

Grace N' Grit Red

This red rose is part of the Grace N' Grit family of roses bred by Monrovia. Like Knock Out roses, it has outstanding disease resistance, is self-cleaning – which means it will keep blooming without you deadheading it – and it thrives in hot, humid climates as well as hot, dry climates. There are also yellow, pink, and bi-color roses in the Grace N' Grit line, so there's a range of colors to choose from. Zones: 4 to 9.

Beach Rose

Rugosa, also known as Beach Rose, is an old standby in the low maintenance rose department. These sprawling shrubs can thrive in poor soil and drought, and are salt tolerant. That last trait is why it's known as Beach Rose. Rugosa's not just for coastal gardens, though. Beach roses can stand up to road salt as well as sea salt, so they're a good choice to grow alongside a street where salt is used as a de-icer in the winter. They're also super cold tolerant and pest resistant. Zones: 3 to 9.

Sky’s the Limit

This yellow climbing rose has everything you want in an easy rose: It’s super disease resistant, blooms continuously, and has a sweet, fruity fragrance. Sky’s the Limit produces clusters of ruffled, buttery yellow blooms. It’s a good pick for a trellis or for covering a fence or wall with roses. And the blooms' flat faces make them a good landing pad for bees and butterflies, so this is a good plant for a pollinator garden. Zones: 5 to 9.

Mutabilis

Also known as Butterfly Rose or Chinese Rose, Mutabilis is a beloved old garden rose that's been grown in American gardens since the late 19th century. Mutabilis will be covered in roses for about two months in late spring and early summer. After a short rest, Mutabilis blooms a second time from late summer to first frost. Its blooms change colors, beginning with yellow, then changing to pink and finally turning crimson. Reaching a mature height of 6 feet, Mutabilis is perfect for a sunny border, as a screen plant or as a flowering hedge. Zones: 6 to 9.

Sweet Spot Yellow

This compact, disease-resistant shrub rose is part of the Sweet Spot line bred by Tesselaar. It blooms continuously from spring to fall and grows just 2 feet high and 2 feet wide, so it's ideal for containers, borders or for use as a blooming groundcover. Sweet Spot has good heat and drought tolerance and can stand up to humid climates as well as dry ones. Zones: 5 to 10.

The Fairy

The Fairy is a dwarf shrub rose that produces cascading clusters of delicate blooms just an inch in diameter. The tiny blooms smell like apples and stand out against lovely fern-like leaves. First bred in the 1930s, The Fairy is an old garden favorite that's hardy, drought- and shade-tolerant, and disease resistant. It grows 2 to 4 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide, so it’s good choice for containers, groundcover, cottage gardens, or a low, flowering hedge. Zones: 4 to 9.

Cinco de Mayo

This one won a prize from the All American Rose Selection people for being easy to grow. Cinco de Mayo is a disease-resistant rose that produces clusters of blooms with a fragrance that smells like apples. Best of all, it's a continuous bloomer, so you'll have roses all season. The shrub reaches a mature height of 5 feet tall, so it's good for the back of the border. Zones: 5 to 9.

Pink Promise

Hybrid tea roses are known for their disease resistance, and Pink Promise lives up to that rep. This rose grows large, fragrant blooms on long stems ideal for cutting. Shrubs grow to 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. Pink Promise is also the official rose of the American Breast Cancer Foundation, so a percentage of the proceeds from each plant sold goes to the foundation. Zones: 6 to 9.

15 Easy Roses That Are Not Knock Out Roses

Related To:

Shop This Look

Bonica

Carefree Beauty

Iceberg

Nitty Gritty Peach

Francis Meiland

Flower Carpet Pink

Flower Carpet White

Grace N' Grit Red

Beach Rose

Sky’s the Limit

Mutabilis

Sweet Spot Yellow

The Fairy

Cinco de Mayo

Pink Promise

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