I have seen this rose here on this site before...but I cannot remember the name! A rundown on HelpMeFind of purple roses didn't show any names I recognized either...but this is defintiely a rose soemone is going to know!

Have fun...what a beautiful rose!

Hmmm...check with celestialrose in NH, I think she might have this rose...

Hi Lisa, there are a lot of possibilities, but for starters, try 'Russelliana.'

Jeri

Here is a link that might be useful: Russelliana at HelpMeFind

Okay, I think I know what this is! I found Celeste's old thread, called "My Gallicas are REALLY purple!" I scrolled down to her photos of Cardinal de Richelieu, then looked it up on HelpMeFind. Check it out, and tell me what you think! But look Jeri's up, too...she was the only one ot ID my own mystery rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cardinal de Richelieu

Thanks for your quick responses and the links. I think it may be a Russelliana, the photos I've found of it are very similar, but the color seems to be a little different. It does tend to grow very tall after flowering. I've been cutting it back every spring, but now that I know it is probably a climber, I think I will try to train it on my fence and see what it does next spring. Thanks for your help!

Remember that roses, particularly purples, are very susceptible to color change depending on the temperature and amount of sun. So I would look pretty closely at all the other characteristics harder than color, to determine a good match.

Congrats!

Greenhaven, I thinks that is it! The color looks exactly the same as mine. Thanks for your help. I should have posted on here sooner, for years I've been wondering what that rose was.

Thanks again to everyone who responded.
Lisa

PS, I still vote for "Cardinal," especially with those lighter reverses. How big DOES the rose get? It seems to be more shrub in form than climber, but maybe it is newly planted/transplanted?

Last year after it flowered it had some canes that shot up to about six foot tall, but I cut it back this spring to about three foot. It has been in the same location for three years. I found some photos of the "Cardinal" on Dave's Garden website and they look just like it.

I'm sorry, but I don't believe this is Russelliana. Does the foliage have a pine scent? I've read that's a characteristic of Russelliana. It also doesn't look as full as the Cardinal but it's more likely to be that than Russelliana.

Ingrid

my vote is for Cardinal de Richelieu as well...

Silverkelt

Have a look at Chianti.
I have one, does the same thing with canes. The color is really hard to capture, it either looks purple or hot pink.

How large are your blooms? I'm almost positive mine will fit in my hand. I can take a ruler out there later as there is one or 2 blooms left.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chianti

Looking at it my first thought also was Cardinal de Richelieu, but that's one of the only gallicas I've ever grown, and there are so many others, including purples.

You may get further comments by repeating this post over at the Antique Roses forum. I'm certain it's one of the gallica roses that were in European gardens 100-200 years ago. There are quite a few people over there with a lot of experience with gallica roses.

It looks like my Cardinal de Richelieu.

I'll take a guess and say its either 'Cardinal de Richelieu' or 'Hippolyte', both gallicas with that coloring and form, but I am leaning towards CDR. Without seeing it in person I wouldn't guarantee it is, but certainly these are 2 worth considering.

Either way, you have done a great job at nurturing it!

Celeste