Q: Any chance there’s a climbing Knock Out®  rose in the works? My shrub Knock Out® s have done so well, that’s the only way I’ll go at this point in my life.

A: There are two kinds of climbing roses. Ramblers are those that have a natural tendency to send out long shoots. They usually have many clusters of small roses occurring once each year. Large-flowered climbers, though, are typically sports (mutations) of shorter modern roses. Since their shrubby Knock Out® , Blushing Knock Out®  and Rainbow Knock Out®  have done so well, I’m sure the Star rose company is hard at work developing a climbing Knock Out® . You’ll find out about it first at www.starroses.com