Twenty-five years ago, Greenfield resident Will Radler introduced a low-maintenance cherry-red shrub rose called The Knock Out. He never dreamed his retirement project would revolutionize the rose industry, let alone become the best-selling rose in the United States.
“It wasn’t a color [that rose] hybridizers were looking for because it had a bluish cast,” Radler says. “At the time, the fire-engine red color was the color to strive for. But [The Knock-Out] did well, so apparently the public liked it a lot better than the hybridizers did.”
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
He started Rose Innovations and began propagating more plants. Since then, the former Boerner Botanical Gardens director has patented more than 50 different plant varieties, and Rose Innovations has grown into a multimillion dollar business.
Radler, 82, says people love the hardy Knock Out roses because they’re resilient through winter and disease and are easy to care for. “They have beautiful colors throughout the growing season, are repeat bloomers, and the plant is shapely. All they need is six to eight hours of sun, yearly fertilizing and yearly pruning.”
He continues to develop new colors and forms of The Knock Out and other varieties in his jam-packed 2-acre dream garden, called Radler’s Rosarium. His newest rose, Enchanted Meadow, was introduced in limited numbers this year but will have more availability in 2026.
“That rose begins as a pink-edged white bud, then opens to a pink-edged white and cream bloom. Slowly, the pink intensifies and overtakes the bloom and becomes deeper, and then it starts getting lighter until the green overtakes most of the bloom,” he says. “It’s mystifying. It’s unlike any other rose.”
But what’s Radler’s favorite Knock Out variation? The Orange Glow, introduced in 2024. He says that’s because it’s the first Knock Out with an orange-yellow combination. It also has shiny foliage, a slight scent and cup-like petals.
Radler maintains his botanical garden and rosarium with 14 employees, in addition to seasonal workers, contractors and volunteers. The space includes a three-story garden shed with an observation deck, a rose trial garden, terraces, raised beds, waterfalls, a fireplace, ponds, sculptures and a goldfish-filled stream.
He opens his garden to the pubic once a month throughout the blooming season to support local organizations. Sept. 20 is this year’s last chance to smell Radler’s (award-winning) roses.
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