"Best" purple rose for the low desert

Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10

last year

Hello! I've been reading Houzz, visiting nurseries, and generally collecting information on purple roses. For those of you who live in climates similar to that of Phoenix, I'm curious: do you have a favorite purple rose? I'm especially interested in roses that have a strong, lovely fragrance and bloom a lot. And if they stay more purple than not, that would be ideal (although I do love a good fuchsia/magenta). :)

I have a Twilight Zone in a pot, and I love her, but I'm wondering if I can do EVEN BETTER with some additions to my landscape. A few that I've encountered are Angel Face, Heirloom, Mme. Isaac Pereire, Rose de Rescht, and Sweet Chariot. Do any of you have experience with these? Any pros/cons you might be able to share? Thanks!!!

Featured Answer

Diane Brakefield

last year

I think Twilight Zone is the best purple out there. I have two, one since the first year it was sold. The deep true purple is unbeatable. Runner up would be Ebb Tide, which can do some fading in really strong sun. I grow three ETs, two for seventeen years. ET has a lovely scent. I love Angel Face, and in our dry climates where black spot isn't a problem, AF is a wonderful rose, with great scent. My favorite lavender rose is Love Song of which I grow two. She has big blooms that stand up to heat well. All these roses are grafted, which I prefer. I've grown Heirloom which couldn't take our dry heat, but Ben in hot and humid Dallas had a fantastic Heirloom. I think it's the dryness (we are a semiarid desert) which heirloom has trouble with. I've grown two Big Purple roses that are really magenta. Not for me. I forgot to mention I garden in the high desert, zone 7, SW Idaho. It gets very hot here in summer, but nothing like your area (my eks key isn't working, so I can't spell out Phoeneks-ha). I need a new keyboard. It's also very dry here with annual precipitation of about 10 inches, so irrigation with a drip system is necessary. Diane

Twilight Zone

Angel Face

Love Song

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Comments (10)

ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
last year
I've had Plum Perfect and it was beautiful (until it was eaten by ground squirrels) but my temperatures are not nearly as high as yours. I would certainly give a purple rose afternoon shade, but that would probably work best for any rose in your climate.
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10 thanked ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
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Diane Brakefield
last year
Ebb Tide

Ebb Tide as the Clown Jester

wild Blue Yonder as the Clown Prince
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10 thanked Diane Brakefield
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10
Original Author
last year
Diane Brakefield - your roses are beautiful! My TZ is entering year 3 soon, and I'm so excited to see her "leap."

Is that Angel Face with Ebb Tide and Wild Blue Yonder?

I think I remember debbym, Tempe, AZ Zone 9 having Love Song too... Does it have any fragrance? Why do you think you prefer it to Angel Face?

Thank you!
Diane Brakefield
last year
Thanks, Carrie and continued good results with Twilight Zone. You could try a bigger pot, but I think growing TZ in a pot in your climate is a good thing for now. You can try different sun eksposures (no eks key for now) during the different seasons easily to find the optimal conditions for growing TZ. My two are in full sun mostly. One has a little part shade. No, the two bicolor roses, Ebb Tide and Wild Blue Yonder, do this color change in heat, especially WBY, and I love it. Thus, the funny nicknames. I have some very ruffly roses, not just Angel Face. I don't recommend Wild Blue Yonder for your kind of heat and he's hard to find, anyway. I've grown mine for 17 years. I think Love Song blooms more for me and is a bigger rose, but it's really a tie as to which of the two I like best. LS has little fragrance. In fact, in our dry heat, no wafting occurs outside of any rose, but inside the house, My most fragrant rose is Rouge Royale, plus a number of others are really good, including Munstead Wood, Evelyn, and Eglantyne. Diane

Angel Face and Young Lycidas. YL is a nice purplish rose, but he doesn't like our heat.

This is actually Love Song doing an impersonation of Angel Face.
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10 thanked Diane Brakefield
Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
last year
last modified: last year
I see tom to recall the International HerInternational Herald Tribuneald Tribunee did well for @ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County in difficult conditions.
ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
last year
Yes, I did have that rose and I'm sorry that I can't find a better photo of International Herald Tribune. It's quite different from the fluffy roses pictured above, and stays quite short, but it has a charm of its own. I've ordered it again for my new garden since I like to have some single or only half double roses among all the many-petaled ones for contrast.
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10 thanked ingrid_vc zone 10 San Diego County
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10
Original Author
last year
Ok, here's my plan for the purples. I know I love Twilight Zone, so I'm going to get one more of those, and try both Love Song and Angel Face. And I'm *really* hoping I can get 2 Evelyn roses in the next year, because I think they'll look beautiful with the purples.

I'm going to re-plant the bed next to my front door with roses and hollyhocks, and I'm going to try to frame it up with a couple of Madagascar palms in the back and Tradescantia pallida in the front. We'll see if this works!

Across the walkway (from my front door to my driveway), I'm going to try Angel Face, Evelyn🤞, and Sunsprite. I'm also going to edge with Gazania 'Big Kiss White Flame' in an effort to help the yellow blend in. I've seen rave reviews for Sunsprite from folks in the PHX area, so I'm definitely giving it a try.

Wish me luck! I'm hoping to get started in late January. :)
strawchicago z5
last year
last modified: last year
My 8th-year own-root Twilight Zone shuts down during high heat near 100 F, despite in only 4 hours of morning sun. Peter Mayle and Sweet Mademoiselle next to it bloomed well during hot & dry.

My own-root Twilight Zone blooms best during COOL and RAINY weather, like spring and fall. I also grew Angel Face (both as grafted and own-root). Angel Face bloomed better than Twilight Zone in full sun & high heat. Folks in dry heat raved about International Herald Tribune.

In HMF, a Texan also voiced his disappointment in Twilight zone in Texas high heat. I agree with him on Twilight Zone rarely smells good and CANNOT take my Chicago's summer heat either.

Initial post 23 MAR 16 by drossb1986

"While the blooms smell lovely, they don't seem to last that long on the plant. One day the rose looks nice on the bush, and the next day the ground is littered with petals. I'm hoping I'm happier with TZ when it grows and fills out more, but right now I'm on the fence with it.

August 2016 Update: TZ is not a rose for hot, sunny days in Texas. The blooms fry to a crisp in anything above 90 degrees. That doesn't mean TZ doesn't try to bloom in the heat, but they just don't survive. I've also found the growth habit of TZ to be strange and leggy, flopping over into other bushes nearby. Although, it's been 100% clean and healthy with no disease issues. I don't plan on shovel-pruning it this year, but I don't think I would purchase this rose again hindsight being 20/20.

1/1/19 Update: Terrible, dreadful, awful rose. Hates the heat. Not vigorous. Awkward grower. Scent is the most hit or miss in my garden. This one should've been culled before release. "
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10 thanked strawchicago z5
Carrie_in_Phoenix Zone 9b, Sunset 13, Heat 10
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
strawchicago z5- That's so interesting, especially since I looove my Twilight Zone! It's not as Fragrant Cloud—what is!?—but I love its clove-y scent. It's entirely possible you're right and I will hate it in the landscape, but it's doing quite well in a pot with 6 hours of full sun in summer. And here in PHX, I don't anticipate blooms from any roses from May/Jun-Oct; it's just too hot for too long. But they seem generally happy from Nov-Apr (excl frost times), so I just count my blessings that we get several months of blooms.

Anyway, I figure I'll give it a try, and if it fails, I'll swap in International Herald Tribune. :) Thank you so much for the feedback! I really do appreciate it.