Home Run

Rosa 'Home Run'

Easy · Beginner friendly

About Home Run

Home Run is a modern landscape shrub rose bred by Tom Carruth in 2005, a descendant of Knock Out with improved bloom color and heat tolerance. Growing 3 to 4 feet tall and wide, it produces clusters of vibrant true-red single flowers continuously from spring through hard frost, with exceptional resistance to black spot and powdery mildew. A top-performing no-spray landscape rose across American climates.

Disease-resistant
Heat-tolerant
Low-maintenance
Long-blooming

WATER

Regular

Top inch dry

LIGHT

Full sun

6+ hrs direct

HARDY

Hardy to -30°F (-34°C)

USDA hardiness zones 4–10

How to care for Home Run

Watering

Springevery 7 days
Summerevery 5 days
Fallevery 10 days
Winterevery 21 days

Soil · Rich & loamy

Top dressingBark mulch15%
Main mixRich loam + compost 3:170%
DrainageGravel15%

Use fully finished compost — fresh compost burns roots.

FERTILIZER

Balanced Feed 14-14-14

An even feed covers all three needs at once, keeping leaves, roots and blooms moving together with nothing pushed out of balance.

N33%P33%K33%

Nitrogen · Leaves
Phosphorus · Roots + Blooms
Potassium · Strength

Springevery 45 days
Summerevery 45 days

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At a Glance

NativeNorth America
Height3–4 ft (0.9–1.2 m)
Spread3–4 ft (0.9–1.2 m)
Flower colorRed
Foliage colorGreen
SoilRich, Loamy, Well-drained
LocationsYard

Bloom time

BLOOM CYCLE

Peak bloom

May–Sep

True-red single flowers non-stop spring to frost, self-cleaning

Fragrance

LIGHT FRAGRANCE

The flowers have a light scent.

Toxicity

Humans Slight

Unknown toxic principle

HumansDogsCats

Slight

Stem
Contact

EXPOSURE Touching stems.

EFFECT Pricks from thorns.

NOTE Not toxic; thorns cause mechanical injury.

Safe

EXPOSURE No exposure route is reported.

EFFECT No toxic effect is reported.

NOTE Listed as non-toxic for dogs; avoid eating ornamental plants unless confirmed edible.

Safe

EXPOSURE No exposure route is reported.

EFFECT No toxic effect is reported.

NOTE Listed as non-toxic for cats; avoid eating ornamental plants unless confirmed edible.

Educational information, not medical or veterinary advice. If exposure is suspected, contact a doctor or veterinarian.

DISTRIBUTION

Native

North America

History

Illustrated historical scene for Home Run

Rosa 'Home Run' is a scarlet-red shrub rose bred by American hybridizer Ping Lim at Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota and released through Weeks Roses in 2006 after extensive disease-pressure screening. 'Home Run' was developed specifically to resist downy mildew, a disease that can affect the otherwise extremely resistant Knock Out series, in addition to the standard black spot and powdery mildew targets of all modern landscape roses. The single five-petalled bright scarlet blooms, with a central boss of golden stamens and a white eye at the petal base, appear continuously in clusters from late spring to heavy frost on a compact mounded plant about 1.2 meters tall.

Selected for hot and humid southern gardens where downy mildew is most problematic, 'Home Run' requires no spraying, deadheading, or fussing. Bred by Tom Carruth at Weeks Roses and introduced in 2005, Home Run crossed Knock Out with Baby Love to combine top disease resistance with a truer red color and improved southern heat performance.

It has become a widely planted commercial landscape rose across the American South and West.

Symbolism & meaning

What It Symbolizes

The 'Home Run' Rose carries victory in its name, a baseball-inspired tribute to a breakthrough shrub that pairs disease resistance with truly red blooms. Reliable color is its quiet promise: that scarlet does not fade to washed pink in midsummer heat the way many reds do. Its meaning is the small triumph of a rose that simply keeps performing — a steady winner around the garden bases.

Victory — baseball-inspired name for a breakthrough rose
Reliable color — true red never fades in summer heat

Where the Name Comes From

Cultivar name evokes baseball triumph, celebrating its breakthrough disease resistance.

Uses & Fun Facts

Continuous true-red singles on disease-resistant landscape shrub
Dense low flowering hedge for sunny suburban borders
Open single blooms accessible to honeybees and bumblebees

Related plants

More Rosa plants

Plants with similar care

Frequently asked questions

How often should I water Home Run?

In summer, water about every 5 days; in winter, about every 21 days. Adjust for heat, pot size and drainage.

How much light does Home Run need?

Full sun: 6+ hrs direct. Watch the leaves — scorching or stretching means the light needs adjusting.

Is Home Run toxic to cats or dogs?

Pets Safe (Dogs Safe · Cats Safe) Educational information, not medical or veterinary advice. If exposure is suspected, contact a doctor or veterinarian.

Is Home Run easy to grow?

Yes — it is considered an easy, beginner-friendly plant.

When does Home Run bloom?

It typically blooms May–Sep in the Northern Hemisphere.

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