Shrub Rose 'Midnight Blue'

I have had this shrub in my Chicago garden for 10 years. The color and flower form are outstanding. But this shrub is the first in my gar...Read Moreden to get blackspot (it's June 14th and the first affected leaves showed up last week--even my hybrid teas and English roses have no blackspot as of yet) and always ends the season almost completely defoliated. I started out with 2 shrubs, and one eventually died. Needless to say the one remaining is very much weakened by the yearly defoliation. What was once a 3 by 3 foot shrub is now less than 2 by 2 feet. Nevertheless, the shrub is a consistent bloomer, even at the end of the season with next to no leaves, and no one who sees this rose blooming for the first time fails to be impressed by the flowers.

This is a rose I bought by mail, from Heirloom Roses. As is usual with their roses, it arrived tiny but healthy. I transplanted it into...Read More a pot with about an 8 inch diameter, and put it on my southern exposure deck in Westchester County, NY (Zone 5b/6a). It grew only two or three leaves and then died.

A wonderful color, isn't it?

Of course, that's the main reason I plant roses, the fragrance being a close second - but the...Read More color was so unique and deep that when I saw it on sale, I had to scoop it up.

So far, four months after planting, Midnight Blue is doing very well. Repeat blooming, rich scent, and while it does fade a bit into a lighter, reddish violet in the intense sunny days of Vegas, in ninety-degree-ish heat, it managed to look as intense as the photos shown.

I've received a variety of compliments on it and when I've given cuts of it as gifts, the recipient is often floored by the color.

Been growing for a month and is very purple, even in 90 degree heat. Repeat bloomer. Can't wait to see it next year.