Oh, baby!

It's becoming obvious, isn't it, that my language centers are depleted from touring all this forum spring beauty? :-) Carol

Soon we will all be reduced to grunts and emojis! I was so surprised to see Indigo looking so good. It began blooming in early May, so I figured it was about bloomed out and went to check on it, thinking I would prune it back to simulate the next flush. But lo and behold, it was still covered in bloom and actually looking better than it had all spring! I love this Gallica-wannabe!

Wow, Carol! That's gorgeous! You really have a way with purple roses.

Thanks, John. You, too!

It's my most floriferous rebloomer here in Zone 4. Love the color and scent...

That's good to know, Belmont - my sister lives in zone 5, and I'm always looking for roses that do well there!

I love this rose too. Beautiful and is extremely healthy for me. I've had it a few years and never have seen any foliar issues. It's a keeper!

-Chris

I like that a LOT!

Very lovely. Thank you for sharing. I thoroughly enjoy those purpley colours.

Steven

Indigo is beautiful

Hi John,

Your Indigo bush looks so healthy with so many beautiful blooms! I got mine from Heirloom. It's in its third year, getting quite tall here, over 5' for sure, with long arching canes. It's also pretty healthy and productive here in central NJ. Considering even Kordes roses spot in my garden (no spray) in our high humidity, Indigo isn't doing badly. Your pictures capture the colors at various stages of the bloom so well! Here are some of mine :-). My iPhone really butchers the colors that contain purple in them and makes them look too magenta, so please do a mental correction upon viewing - apologies!

This last picture is two Indigo blooms (center and right) with Tuscany Superb on left.

-Lin

Lin, those photos are gorgeous! I especially love the third photo where you capture the golden stamens and the outer petals just beginning to show purple creeping in. I keep my Indigo pretty short compared to you. In the winter I prune it back to a thicket of 1 to 2 foot canes, sloping lower in the front. Then, when a flush ends, I chop it back again, taking several inches off to promote new growth (fresh leaves to cover the old ones with Portland crud) and blooms. Otherwise the canes get too long and floppy for the location where I have them in the garden, so this seems to keep it more of a tidy shrub with the blooms sitting neatly on top of the foliage. If it keeps suckering, one day the entire bed might be nothing but a long shrub of Indigo, and I'd be fine with that!

I whack back mine after bloom, too. My garden is TINY! And Indigo seems to enjoy refreshing itself. Carol

Yes, I think so, too, Carol! So does Rose de Rescht. They both grow back so dense, fresh and tidy after a good, firm chop! When you garden on a postage stamp-sized lot like we do, our secateurs are our only defense against being overrun by aggressive plants. :)

Thanks for the detailed description John! Since the majority of my OGRs were planted in either 2016 and 2017, I only started pruning them this year. Hence, I felt hesitant when I took the pruners to them back in early March. I believe I was too soft with the pruning on many of them. I will try to cut my Indigo back more after the spring flush. Actually, I think I will give all of them a haircut after the spring flush :-) . No more than ⅓ though, as I have read. That should keep their size in check somewhat.

I still have much to learn here, so keep those suggestions coming! Thanks!

-Lin