I have Love Song and Fragrant Plum.

If you want gorgeous clumps of blooms, Love Song definitely fits the bill. Unfortunately it has zero scent.

Fragrant Plum smells delicious but it blooms sporadically, and more in singles.

Carla

What zone are you in?

Perfume Factory is a good large-flowered performer, and so is Twilight Zone.

Midnight Blue is a good purple with strong fragrance. Rebloom is great. Blooms are medium or medium small.

Plant is very shrubby but not a big grower. Good in a pot. Hardy.

I planted Plum Perfects last year and am disappointed to see blackspot already despite their reputation. Is it possible they will become more resistant as they establish? I am in NY Hudson Valley zone 7.

The color on that Midnight Blue is unbelievable!

I have a whole lavender/ purple bed and my favorites are Love Song , Twilight Zone, Charles DeGaule and a perfect, beautiful, bloomy rose is Lavender Veranda. The color is beautiful. No fragrance. Madame Blue has gorgeous color blooms and elks grest. She had been struggling but expect her to be a winner.

Lifes Little Pleasures

Charles DeGaulle

Lavender Veranda

Im in zone 6b, and the area has no tees, so i need a shrub type rose/floribunda rose that can take all day sun and heat tolerant. i love lovesong, i worry with the lght color they will wlt. you have this experien? i read lavender veranda has a black spot issue or isnt disease resstant. What does in heat and disease resistance for you?

I feel like i want lifes littles pleasure, how does it do in sun/heat and with disease resistance? What about lovesong and madam blue?

I like Twilight Zone and Perfume Factory

You should probably list your priorities, e.g. fragrance, health, or flower power. My impression is that each has its strengths and weeknesses.

Of the few I have grown, Plum Perfect did best for me in Central Texas with no spray, but was not overly floriferous in its short life and had no fragrance. (Kordes, generally speaking, prioritizes health. Ultimately it succumbed to a harsh drought during a heat wave -- my fault entirely.) The darker hues can fry in hot sun, but I seriously doubt you have to endure what we do here.

Celestial Night is one that has done moderately well for me here, though in heat it is not overly purple. Fragrant Plum has been a dog, as I am no-spray, and I am patiently awaiting her demise.

Kristine, your Lavender Veranda is exquisite.

I would say, a rounded/bushy shape habitrosenthat is 21/2-31/2ft tall, with grouped nlooming roses all over{usually ht roses only grow them on the top of the bush and singularly). i love the purples,lavender, or purplish-pinkish floribundas, a nice scent would be nice, but i just am looking for primarily ones that could bloom and grow in full all day sun no trees. the heat tolerance and disease resistance(black spot resstance is big).

Can you give your temperature so we know what you mean by heat tolerance? Is it humid heat or dry heat?

Where I live, heat  tolerance means 105-110 ( we are having an early heat wave, have already had 102 last week and are forecast for 103 tomorrow)

I don't really think of Zone 6 as being hot, but sometimes it is  

HHumHumidHumid heatHumid heat sautéHumid heat sauté mom

Rifis what rose is that?

With no trees in summertime temperatures reach anywhere from 85-lower 100s and drought at times and humidity.

The hot sun will pound down on them

ItIt’s theIt’s the oneIt’s the one sunnyIt’s the one sunny recommendIt’s the one sunny recommended

Sweet madam blue? i love that rose

How does the rose do with black spots?

IF you refer to PP, and blackspot (Diplocarpon rosae): Excellent, no-spray here.

It gets a little cercospora late in the season. Nothing to write home about.

I posted that photo 5 minutes after I took it tonight. A good number of the blooms are at least 11 days old.

What is pp? is that plum perfect? you grow plum perfect, with no black spots in your zone-nice. what other roses do well in your gardens? any other purples growing?

I wasnt sure if it was sweet madam ble or plum perfect, it looks more pink for plum perfect.

Sunny also mentioned Sweet Madame Blue. I don’t know that rose, but I’d like to have a rose with a fragrance that was “like being smacked in the nose with a bag of lemons”.

Sunny would be a success on Madison Avenue (if not there already).

Currently, I am being totally underwhelmed by Plum Perfect. It may not survive the year, if I get shovel happy.

I grow Plum Perfect and I agree with Mad. Mauve isnt my favorite color but it is super clean.

Lives Little Pleasure has had some BS but the color is really pretty. Lavender Veranda has gotten really healthy over the years. If I was to replace anynof my lavenders I would replace it with Lavender Veranda. It has a nice shape and always in bloom.

Southern Oregon is hot hot hot but not as much BS pressure a lot of other places.

I grow Sweet Madame Blue. I like it a lot. It is almost the same color as Perfume Factory. That is to say it is a color changing mauve. Sometimes silvery, sometimes plum, sometimes a mood dark violet.

What I like about this rose is that its the CLASSIC floribunda plant. Rounded habit and clusters. Also, its quite fragrant. Rose and lemon.

It's only con, while resistant to most disease, gets a little bs at the bottom. This isn't an issue imo. Well, the other problem is the silly name.

Finally got a picture of Sweet Madam Blue. She has struggled with a couple of moves but is starting to gain size

Does anybody frow sweet madam blue in 6b? i thought when i planted moonlights in paris that werre supposed to be disease resistant i wouldnt have an issue-i was wrong. Now i worry about getting more, because i had to prune most of the leaf off and there arent many buds on one and none on the other. i just hope it will survive, i would like to use a natural/organice fungicide, but dont know if it will work.i do love these purples and hope one of them grow well in this zone.

I planted an own root Sweet Madame Blue in a large pot on our deck about 2 years ago and it is slow to build but I love the blooms. Technically, Portland is now 9a but we are at a higher elevation and during the big freeze and ice storm this past winter with a week of temps around 14 F and everything caked in ice, this rose had no damage. I love the blooms and scent but I wish I knew why the leaves are a lighter green. HMF says they should be a dark green. Switching to a liquid feed with iron to see if that helps. Edited to say that I used no winter protection on this rose.

I also geow Plum Perfect and am underwhelmed….but I couldn’t say why

Brindabella Purple Prince is my cleanest purple rose and is fragrant

Its will to live is strong

Highly recommend for a no-spray garden in hot and humid area

Sunny - I have Sweet Madame Blue as a new bareroot rose. Your description of the fragrance made me excited to sniff the blooms that will come on mine...I've been wanting a lemon fragrance for awhile. :)

Oursteelers - such a beautiful, beautiful bloom!! :) :)

Isn’t it funny how some touch our heart and some don’t?

Carol you will love Sweet Madame Blue! Her blooms are beautiful! Ihope her lemon bagpops out for you this season.

This is Brindabella Purple Price during winter. A Deeper color and more petals. A fruity fragrance

Sunny - thanks for the picture....I can't wait for mine to bloom and show such beauty! Your Brindabella bloom is even lovelier.

What about the Kordes rose 'Quicksilver'? It reads as a dark lavender in the garden. I don't give it any winter protection here in Michigan and let it grow as a tall wavy shrub. It currently has four canes, each about 4.5' tall. I don't spray, and it has remained healthy. Blooms consistently all summer; no fragrance to speak of. I like it in the background of my rose bed.

First, my garden is in Maryland, USDA Zone 7a. Of those you cited, I have PLUM PERFECT (Floribunda, Tim Hermann Kordes, Germany, 1997). Actually two own root plants on their second year. They came from the Antique Rose Emporium. I do like what I see so far. The Old Garden Rose flower form is beautiful and the rich mauve color does not wash out or fade. Fragrance is highly variable, from nothing to a nice medium scent. Most of the time it is light but detectable. The two plants are about 2-3 feet tall and as wide. They bloomed the first year, and bloomed even more this year. Everybody touts its disease resistance, but the foliage on my plants have black spot. Nothing too bad but it is early in the season. Last year it completely defoliated by August. So disappointing.

Other mauve roses I have tried are LAGERFELD, MIDNIGHT BLUE, POSEIDON (NOVALIS), REINE DES VIOLETTES, TWILIGHT ZONE, and VEILCHENBLAU.

LAGERFELD was a black spot disaster in the Mid-Atlantic and a runt growing on its own roots in my clay soil. La Madame de Shovel got great satisfaction executing it.

MIDNIGHT BLUE was even worse. It grow backward. For five years I would see a handful of leaves poking out of the mulch, AND THAT WAS IT. Pity because it bloomed its first year and of all the roses listed was the darkest with the best true purple color. Did not need a shovel to remove. A quick pull with my bare hand and it was gone. I may try it one day in a container because that one bloom was truly astonishing.

POSEIDON beats everyone. Fragrance is stronger, vigorous as all get out on its own roots (WARNING: shrub gets BIG) in clay soil, and the only rose that beats it in my garden for black spot resistance is Double Knock Out. Blooms are a light cool lavender that I swear look almost blue in direct sunlight. Alas, rain is its enemy as it causes the petals edges to brown. I keep it because it is so dang healthy and is my husband's favorite rose (he is Lady Gaga over the color).

REINE DES VIOLETTES is the most beautiful mauve rose that I have ever seen, and I have seen many. Every single part of the plant is fragrant, from the leaves to the stems and flowers. Touching is encouraged because this rose is absolutely thornless. Graceful growth habit too. Simply lovely. So why do I no longer have it? Flowers have ZERO vase life, black spot defoliates the shrub by mid-summer and it must be grown grafted if to successfully thrive in heavy clay. Sad truth, I got sick and can't do chemicals any more.

TWILIGHT ZONE had disappointing color. I see all these pics with blooms in a rich shade of imperial purple, but not on my plant. Crimson shaded magenta most of the season. Ebb Tide and Midnight Blue have better color. Fragrance IS wonderful and the vigorous (if grafted) plant low thorned but the foliage must be sprayed if somewhat clean foliage is an ambition. Got shovel pruned and replaced with Plum Perfect.

VEILCHENBLAU looked like something out of a dream. I am not kidding. It is a once blooming rambler that at twilight in full bloom ... OMG ... those flowers really do look blue. Wafting sweet fragrance, nearly thornless canes. Vigorous as all get out in clay soil. So why did I get rid of it? The rambler blooms ONCE and it is a very short bloom period at that. Two weeks! Blink too long and the blooms are gone! I am sorry but I need more performance than that.

Phillip Oliver's VEILCHENBLAU at Dirt Therapy

I know we are talking about floor bundles but just thought I would show you Purple skyliner. This is a great rose that flowers all the time. Extremely helping here under heavy black spot pressure. The black spot show showing in the close up is from a picture taken last November.

Patrick - good info. :) Would you mind posting a picture of your Reine de Violettes? I'd love to see blooms and bush shape. :)

Vaporvac - what a bloomer!

Thank you carol.. She start setting buds as soon as even before. She's like this all summer. Same for the 1 I planted at a friendsfriends.

Vaporvac - Really? Good gracious...that's a rose that should be grown more often!

Vapor, your rose is fantastic!

Rosecanadian - I am sorry but I never took a pic of Reine des Violettes. I can take pics of Plum Perfect and Poseidon with my phone but be forewarned the heat, weeds, and deer have gotten to them so don't expect catalog worthy images.

just a note, because i am reading a lot about disease resistant choices for roses-my current rosesbthat have lost their leaf and petal to blackot, they are supposed tohave excellentdisease resistance-moonlights in paris. i am very leary topurchase anymore roses because i dont know how these will do yet. the way they look now nreak my heart because in maythey were fabulous. i have ordered bonides captain jack copper fungicide and dr. earth 8007 disease control fungicide

That makes sense to get a hold of disease issues specific to your own yard and not put too much effort into picking additional roses till you see what works for your yard. Strains of spotty diseases are different around the country and even in closely related states like ours, so what works for others might not work for you. Some treatments might work or not for you too, and the most reliable advice is to find roses that don't blackspot in your zone rather than trying to control it. Some of that is trial and error, so pause to take a look at what you have before proceeding with next choices. Sometimes roses can improve their disease resistance a bit with time so I usually don't make the "pull the plug" decision in a rose's first year.

You might look at more of the shrub type roses that on average have better disease resistance - like the Easy Elegance roses - or breeders like Kordes that select for disease resistance in their roses. Any of those roses have exceptions in different climates, so you need to see where your disease tolerance is and what is clean for you before moving ahead.

For purple type roses, they have a reputation for being relatively less disease resistant as a group (particularly the lavenders) than other colors, but this varies a lot by particular cultivars. I find Poseidon to be among the most disease resistant lavender or purple roses for me, as well as some once bloomers like Veilchenblau or the Gallica roses.

There may be a tradeoff between the type of roses you like and the types that respond well to your own disease pressures, but don't let that discourage you from all roses. There are so many types with so many characteristics that there can be roses with a happy balance of health and happiness to enjoy growing them without extreme measures.

Cynthia