Shrub Rose 'Rhapsody in Blue'

I am in my third year with this rose. I do really like it. With good fertility and care this year, I've had good results with rebloom. ...Read MoreI just want to note, that the flowers drop off almost as soon as they open and the color starts out very dark and starts fading as soon as it opens. It is pretty and easy but I did read that it makes good cut flowers and this is incorrect. They wouldn't make it one day in a vase. A nice shrub rose with some fragrance.

bought this rose last year (07') put it on the deck in a large
pot and it just bloomed all summer right up til frost, I transplant...Read Moreed it into its new home in October and this year
it has grown three times the size of the original and is
covered with beautiful shades of purples, dark, dark reddish
purples and smokey inbetweens of these colors. Many of
the blooms have this beautiful hand painted look of white
running through many of the blooms, it really makes this
even more beautiful. An outstanding rose, I barely had to prune this as it has so
little die back it was amazing. Its always hard to watch
the japanese bettles attack roses but it bounced back
with no problems and resumed blooming like crazy!! It has a beautiful smell, I
have a new one potted on my deck and its blooming like
crazy just like the last one and keeps sending up new
growth and buds, this one is amazing. It doesn't really like
the hot hot weather, when it gets into the 90s it sulks a bid
so I give it some extra water and attention and its fine.
Read up on this wonderful rose, its really carefree and
if you like these colors its a winner in my books.

I ordered and potted one of these, enticed by the marketed purple colour. It's an OK rose, but the "slate blue" flowers as they call the...Read Morem just look kinda dull, and perhaps diseased.

I bought these in Autumn 2002, rose of the year 2003! I started them off in very large pots, as the ground was not ready. The plants ha...Read Mored large roots, and looked very healthy. I was amazed at how quickly they grew, I had 3 and placed one in each 'corner' of a round cornered triangle, with a variety of seed grown campanula and a dahlia Cafe au Lait in the centre. It's first year was a very good display. This rose starts to flower early, and continues for a long time, making many new shoots with large clusters of medium sized loosely double, scented flowers.

The colour starts a deep purplish colour, with an occasional white streak, opening quite flat and changing colour to a silvery greyish blue as it ages. It has a scent which is hard to describe, I wouldn't say it was as strong as some but a very pleasing 'delicious' scent, not too sweet, one which entices you to keep going back for another 'sniff'. If it were a perfume I would say a fruity floral.

A very easy shrub to grow, I hit a bed of hard sandstone at the base, with just enough topsoil to grow it in. It is a sandy, free-draining old river bed, and the particular spot is quite poor.