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Last fall I pruned my knock-out roses to about 3 inches above the
graft. I noticed brown core in the center of one of the thickest canes.
I cut it back further to see if it cleared and it did. Is this normal?
What is it?

Dieback. Rose canes look like that when they
become weak and/or die. Best to prune back to
white/cream center (called "pith") where you know
it is healthy, which is apparently what you did.

I don't have a Knockout rose but 3" seems to
me to be rather severe pruning for anything
other than a mini.

I googled pruning Knockout and found one
site that recommended no pruning for the
first two years, then remove one third of
the oldest canes each year.
http://www.bloomindesigns.com/c=lKJY....pruningroses/

If the whole link won't work, try going to
www.bloomindesigns.com and then searching
on Knockout rose.

That recommendation suggests to me that
you don't need to do a severe pruning of
all the canes, as you did. But Knockout sounds
like a really hardy rose and yours will probably
do ok.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8