It will help to know your general region of the country and zone to give you an idea of how this rose might do for you. It's among the more hardy lavender climbers, but there aren't many zone 5 hardy lavender climbers once you move beyond the once-bloomers. If you're in a warmer zone that's less of an issue, and in general the breeding of Quicksilver makes it more resistant to blackspot than many roses. This also can vary depending on your region though.

Cynthia

Thanks Cynthia! I meant to put that in there-- I'm in zone 7b (central North Carolina).

Angela, this won't really apply to you, but maybe a cold zoner might like to know. I had two. One was about 4 yrs. old, the other was a new band. Both own root. The older one was big and healthy going into a mild winter 2 years ago and didn't survive. The canes turned black from top to bottom. The baby did fine and has survived 2 more mild winters. Freeze/thaw cycles are hard on roses.

The blooms on Quicksilver are fabulous! I'v noticed it doesn't vary much from zone to zone or with different conditions. Everyone's Quicksilver blooms look about the same. I think it should do well for you, but I can't speak to fungal issues, this being a very dry climate. I hope you and your husband love it.

It is very vigorous here as well and my only problem with it is lack of scent

How many hours of sun will this area get?

If you opt for Quick Silver it may easily exceed spreading 6' in either direction (12' across), for you in NC, which dimensions it grows to on a 4' high fence here in Pittsburgh, PA, zone 6b. It does this in full sun, though, and is extremely robust and vigorous. The light mauve/ lavender color is rich.

Quick Silver's ADR designation means great fungus resistance, no black spot without spraying, which is a strong asset. You probably have severe black spot issues there in NC, as I do here in PA.

Moses

I planted mine last fall snd confess to being disappointed with the color of the first bloom i saw last week. More magenta than lavender.

Kitasei2, IME roses can and do change colour according to weather and also the age of the plant. Your Quicksilver is very new to your garden; it may improve in time.

Vaporvac, it gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. I’m fairly new to roses and am planning to turn the whole fence area into a huge rose garden of light pinks, whites, and lavenders. I am also debating on whether to go with a climber like the quicksilver, or a rambling variety since the fence is so long (about 45 feet) and whether or not to stick with a single type or pair it with others along the fence line. Here is a photo before I cut the offending suckers to the ground, to get an idea of the area.

IME roses can and do change colour according to weather and also the age of the plant.

==>> also time of day at viewing ... if you go out at dusk .. and compare it to mid day full sun ... you might think you were in a different garden .. especially on evenings when the sky turn pink at sunset ...

and of course.. blue sky above is much different than battleship grey above ...

this all is very important when taking pix .... especially blue plants like hosta and conifers .... so a purple/silver plant might fit into the scenario ....

ken

I have a shady garden, so I always browse through HMF for continuous blooming or tons of blooms bush .. these are most likely to bloom with less sun. Purple Skyliner was recommended by LongAgoRoses when I asked for roses for my shady garden (mostly 4 hours of sun, or 6 hours max).

I agree with straw that it's best to look for roses that do well in a shade garden. Roses generally like more than 6 hours of sun but some will do okay with less if you're willing to sacrifice some bloom. In addition to PS i would add Ghislaine de Feligonde (there is a pink sport) and many of the Hybrid Musks such as Bubble Bath, Mrs Anthony Waterer, Wind Chimes, Excellenz Von Schubert, Prosperity, felicia and Cornelia and Darlos Enigma. While not a HM, Pink Pet is great in lower light it will grow large.

Vapor, I've had Pink Pet for 2 years and it hasn't been higher than 1 foot. Maybe it needs more than 4hr sun?

Geez. Maybe its water. I've seen it well over 6' here. My grafted 1 was way bigger than my own root plants. As usual, they've been much slower to get started but they seem to be putting on some growth this year.

I don't think water is an issue. In the same bed I have Birthday Girl, Lemon Spice, Hot Cocoa, Mother of Pearl, Earth Angel, Comte de Chambord, and Rose de Rescht, and they are all doing well. Pink Pet looks like a dwarf surrounded by the giants! Maybe it just needs more time to develop.

I hope that's the case and you will give it more time. It's such a great sweet rose. Many people do not find it fragrant but DH&I detect a strong clove fragrance that does waft. We have a lot of humidity however.

I think you could pull it off in what you describe , last year my quicksilver was in part sun , and it gave me gorgeous blooms. I moved it to a better location however it’s growing under the eaves of my front porch now and has buds completely in the shade . There’s no way it’s getting sun where it is now .

The blooms last a long time too .

I think it’s lovely paired with a clematis!

I personally don’t smell anything on it but don’t mind one bit .

Ugh. I wish the lack of fragrance didn’t bother me because otherwise this is a perfect rose. Vigorous, healthy, purple purple…it is just such a bummer every time I walk under it.

It is in the same general vicinity as Princess Charlene, Generous Gardener, Abe plus daphne so they all pick up the slack but still…it frustrates me🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't love it as much as I thought I would--mostly because the canes are so stiff it is very difficult to direct its growth and it wants to grow straight up. I have quite a few climbers and I like to get them pruned, organized and tied up in late winter/early spring then let them be during the growing season. I've decided that QS needs to be managed and maintained all year. It still young, year 3 so for now I'm holding out that things will get better.

Here it is in all its uprightness:

subk3, it has such gorgeous blooms! Wow! I think the color of the quicksilver is so unique and stunning.

A couple of you have talked about how stiff the canes are, so maybe it's not the right choice since I will be training mostly sideways along the split rails. A rose with more flexible canes might be better.

Lilyfinch and subk, your pics make me wish I had more porches, or more porch posts, at least. My big Therese Bugnets take up too much room, and the super powered Eden takes the rest. I would do it all so differently if I could start over.

Quicksilver grows faster than you might expect, and all of a sudden, those thick, stiffly upright canes can't be budged. Mine had no fragrance at all in this dry air. Even in the two weirdly humid summers, there was no fragrance that I recall.

Ang NC, I myself plan to try to train my 2 Quicksilvers horizontally. I think it can be done if one is patient. You just have to do it very gradually-tilting the stiff cane just a bit, tying it on the angle, then maybe 2 weeks later, go back and tilt it slightly more, tie in, wait,go back, tilt it yet more, etc, etc, etc until you achieve the horizontal. This encourages more blooms.We will see if it can be done!