Night Owl- Some have accused her of looking just a little too much like Dr. Huey. Well, not that there's anything wrong with that, but her flowers are bigger than the Dr., more purple than the Dr., (but not by too much) but she repeat blooms and is disease/pest free, & has very pronounced yellow stamens.

*** She has been here for three years and a bit, and in all that time, I don't believe I've seen 10 blooms. Total.
I'm glad she's good somewhere, but I would not recommend her to anyone in my area.

Jeri

That's too bad Jeri. I really love Night Owl. I read somewhere that it was blackspot prone, but so far it's been clean. We're getting lots of rain now, so we'll see how it does with that. Mine is reblooming now and looks like it will climb based on the longer canes it's putting out. A few people mentioned in my previous post that there's wouldn't climb. My only wish is that it was as dark as you see it advertised.

My Ebb Tide, Intrigue and Night Owl all look the same color, hot pinkish purple.

My Ebb Tide is truly purple, nothing pink about it. At the same time, it doesn't like my heat and stops blooming and growing when it gets warm. I'm not sure that I'll keep it. My favorite is Wild Blue Yonder, which is not as purple but has a glowing color, whereas Ebb Tide is dull purple like velvet. My main criterion now is performance and I will be slowly eliminating roses that do not put on a good show for at least six months out of the year, longer if possible. Route 66 is a truly purple single rose but it crisps almost immediately. It "disappeared" from my garden just the other day. Enchantress, a tea rose, has some blooms that opened deeply purple, much to my surprise, since the first flower was a two toned lavender and white. It's a band that I've only had a few months so we'll see how it behaves in the future. The flowers seem quite enchanting and this tiny rose has already had flowers and now buds on a regular basis.

Ingrid

I content myself with Gallicas, which isn't hard. They're coming into bloom now. It's true I only have them for a few weeks of the year, but I glut myself on purple in that period and it fills me up until they return again. Also the two 'Veilchenblau's are accelerating, having starting life as cuttings a year and a half ago and then having been massacred by my husband during transplanting--this is a tough rose! I want to mention a modern shrub rose my husband bought me knowing that I like fragrant reds: 'Graefin von Hardenberg' (there's a first name that precedes the 'Graefin' but I don't remember what it is). This is a stout-caned, well-branched, upright plant, grafted, that is currently about 5'x5', with large, double, cupped blooms with some fragrance at least. It's growing in full sun in very compact clay soil, and naturally doesn't get any supplementary water. I have grudgingly come to appreciate this rose, its toughness and good health and handsome flowers, but this spring it has outdone itself, covering itself with large blooms of velvety purple-red blooms, and with perfectly healthy foliage, in a spring when I see an unusual amount of fungal disease. Obviously this is the 'Graefin's year, the year when conditions were just right for it. I bring this rose up because it gives quite an effect of purple even though it is probably classified as a red rose. Now the weather has turned brightly sunny and warm, and I expect the blooms will all fry. But 'Graefin von Hardenberg' had her moment of glory.

Melissa

I found Rhapsody in Blue at a clearance sale last summer, and liked it so much I went back and bought a second plant. They were so gorgeous--I can't wait to see them this year.

My gallicas are ready to start soon--the oldest are just over 2 years old from bands, and I can't wait for them to bloom! They did an amazing job the first year, and this year promises to be even better. Cardinal de Richelieu is covered with buds, as is Belle de Crecy. It will be the first bloom for Hippolyte and Ombre Parfait. I can't wait!

LOVE those purple roses!

Melissa,

I had to look up your Graefin shrub--WHAT a beauty! I'm going to have to add that one to my list! I've got a struggling Falstaff that it could replace. (Yet another DA rose gets the shovel!)