Question
Hello.  I need help!  I would love to plant 5 pink knockout roses in the front of
my house along the brick of my long porch.  I want more of a country cottage
feel.  The sun does not reach this location until 2:00 p.m.  Will pink knockout
roses survive this baking sun and will they get enough to bloom repeatedly all
summer long?  I live in Kentucky. Thank you for the advise.

Answer
Knockout roses will require 6 hours of full sun to do well and flower a lot but they can take less you get less flowers. Just keep an eye on them the first year to see that they don't burn. The first year is always the trickiest because you want the young plants to make good cane growth. Then when they harden off for the winter, there will be no trouble with the sun the next summer. If you see them burning ( it looks terrible) simple throw wet newspaper over them in the first 6 weeks after planting them and keep them well watered until the new feeder roots can take the water up themselves. Again that takes about 6 weeks. I wouldn't fertilize them if they are going to be a very hot sun as this could burn them. Put some rose goodies in the hole to feed them such as compost, a bag of steer manure and 1/2 cup of bone meal for the roots to munch on. Next spring continue to fertilize and water so they don;'t dry out next the warm bricks. Hope this helps.