Lord Help Me, I Bought a Knock Out® Rose!

Long-time readers of this blog are doubtless aware that ProfessorRoush hates Knock Out® roses.  I blame the Knock Out® line for the collapse of many rose nurseries and the rapid decrease in rose varieties available at local nurseries.  I blame Knock Out®s for knocking the Queen of Flowers off her pedestal and coercing the public into treating roses as mere utilitarian shrubs.  I blame Knock Out®s for their lack of grace, lack of fragrance, and their easy susceptibility to rose rosette disease.  Heck, I'd blame them for global warming if I could reason out the slightest plausible logic chain that might link them together.  

And yet, while I was "saving big money" at Menards today (or so their advertising jingle tells me), I ran across 'Petite', the so-called "first miniature Knock Out® rose," and I fell for the hype, hooked and cleaned out, as it were, right there in the store.  What can I say?  I was weak at the moment, it was priced right ($17.95), it was healthy, the back of the plant tag said it was hardy to Zone 4, and I was disappointed at all Menard's other seasonal rose offerings at the store.  My hypocrisy on full display, I swooped it up and brought it home before my conscience kicked in.

Here at home, I transplanted it to a larger vacant pot and watered it in.   Despite its "fire-engine red" color I'm not confident it will be noticeable planted alongside the large shrubs and shrub roses of my greater garden, and besides, I can always move the pot and hide my moral failure and disgrace if any discerning gardeners are coming over.  Mrs. ProfessorRoush, of course, will love this potted rose wherever I place it, but her tastes, as always, are suspect in regards to plant aesthetics.  Thankfully, her discernment is better at choosing husbands, or so I'd like to believe. 

In my defense, 'Petite', otherwise known as Zepeti®, is not really a Knock Out® rose, at least not one bred by Bill Radler. Yes, it was introduced in the US by Star Roses, the parent company promoting all things Knock Out®, but the registered variety name is MEIbenbino, indicating it was a cross by the House of Meilland, in this case by Alain Meilland in 2011.   Alain is, by my count, the 5th generation of his family to be engaged in rose culture, but he was evidently turned by the Dark Side of the Force and used RADtko ('Double Knock Out') as the pollen parent of the cross resulting in 'Petite'.  

I did notice an unexplained oddity during my research around MEIbenbino.  Helpmefind\roses says that 'Petite' is the "first rose covered by a U.S. Utility Patent, which protects the introducer by restricting any party from hybridizing with it."  A utility patent restricts breeding, propagation, reproduction from or development of this variety as well as propagation.   And yet, helpmefind/roses also says that 'Petite' is a verified triploid.   Since triploid plants are usually sterile, I'm a little perplexed about the "superpatent" afforded this rose, since logically it should, as a triploid, be the end of its own genetic line.   Regardless, in the event that it ever develops hips and seeds, one should keep it to oneself and not notify the patent police.  Or, like Bella here, just avoid this rose altogether as a safety measure.  My conscience will thank you.