Rose Garden Lookbook: all of my beautiful Purple Roses!
One thing about purple roses, most of them don’t seem to love growing in warm/hot weather. As beautiful as they are, I have yet to find a purple rose that thrives in full hot desert sun as much as the orange and yellow roses in my garden.
However, this is not to say that you can’t grow purple or lavender roses in zone 9B Phoenix, Arizona. It is still very possible with a little TLC and afternoon shade! The majority of my purple roses are doing pretty well this spring after a few adjustments (placing them in a space that receives afternoon shade, frequent watering, etc.)
It’s also important to note that most purple roses are only truly “purple/lavender” during our cooler fall, winter and early spring months. They tend to lean more on the magenta/pink side once the weather warms up in April. I will have to share more photos this fall, so you can see just how “purple” some of these roses will become. Still stunning regardless!
My purple roses are definitely the most high maintenance, delicate roses in my Phoenix, Arizona garden, but I absolutely love them! Purple is such a magical color.
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Rose Garden Lookbook: all of my Pretty Purple Roses!
Purple Roses often represent feelings of enchantment, love at first sight and magic. Honestly, after staring at all the purple roses in my garden… I get it! There is definitely something very magical about these purple, lavender and mauve roses.
Today I am sharing all of the Purple Roses that I grow in my zone 9B Phoenix, Arizona Rose garden!
Heirloom – Purple Roses
The “Heirloom” rose is one of the most beautiful roses in my garden! The petals are a stunning ruffled blend of lavender and magenta and the fragrance is a strong old fashioned rose scent.
These blooms love our cooler fall and early spring weather and can get over 5 inches wide! Once the weather warms up by April, the blooms look a bit more pink (as photographed).
I wouldn’t claim this rose to be “Phoenix” heat tolerant, but I just had a flush of blooms this week (mid May) and they are holding their own in our upper 90 degree weather! The color fades a bit and the petals feel very delicate to the touch, but they are hanging on!
For me, this rose has had no issues as far as disease. The aphids were out of control this spring (we had tons of rain which brings all the bugs) and they loved Heirloom
Heirloom Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: Large, ruffled lavender & purple blend
- Growth Style: Hybrid tea rose, but clusters of 1-3 bloom per stem
- Height: up to 4 feet
- Width: up to 3 feet
- Fragrance: very strong old fashioned rose scent
- Growing Zones: 7-10
- Heat Tolerance: Does well with our spring heat, but petals become a little tender after a few days of intense sun
- Disease Tolerance: Performs very well for me!
Love Song – Purple Roses
Love Song is one of my most recent additions to my rose garden! I purchased this bareroot online from Menagerie Farms during one of their late winter sales. It is definitely still “growing”, but it has already giving me about 5 nearly full sized blooms throughout the last few months. Fragrance seems to be a moderate lemon like scent, but I don’t think I will know its full potential until it has grown a bit more.
During our cooler early spring weather, the Love Song is definitely more of a true lavender color. It is stunning! However, now that we are approaching our triple digit heat in May the color is more warm and pink (as photographed). Regardless, this rose is so lovely and quickly becoming one of my favorites!
The blooms are full, ruffled and surprisingly sturdy for a purple rose. Out of all the purple/lavender roses in my garden, Love Song may just be the most “heat tolerant” in terms of how the blooms withstand our hot sun. I’m impressed by Love Song!
I have not owned this rose long enough to see how it handles powdery mildew and other rose diseases, however so far so good!
Love Song Growth Habits:
- Blooms: Large ruffled lavender blooms
- Growth Style: floribunda, clusters of ruffled blooms per stem
- Height: up to 4 feet
- Width: up to 5 feet
- Fragrance: moderate citrus rose scent
- Growing Zones: 6-10
- Heat Tolerance: Yes! One of my most heat tolderant “purple” roses. Blooms can take the heat, but fade a bit.
- Disease Resistance: so far, so good
Queen of Elegance – Mauve Purple/Pink Roses
The Queen of Elegance leans more “pink” than purple, but I have seen the mauve shade lean more purple during our cooler months, so I am including her! This floribunda rose gives flushes of the most beautiful mauve- colored old fashioned roses all with a strong classic rose fragrance.
The blooms are a little on the delicate side (most cupped shaped blooms are). While these roses do very well during our mild spring weather, the blooms tend to fade and crisp up during our later spring months. I do have this rose in a spot that gets more afternoon sun than some of my other delicate roses, so I may end up moving her to a better spot next January!
This rose is very disease resistant and seems to be fast growing. I purchased and planted this rose last fall and she is already as tall as her 2-3 year old rose neighbors.
Queen of Elegance Growth Habits:
- Blooms: clusters of large, cupped mauve pink blooms
- Growth Style: Floribunda, multiple blooms per stem
- Height: up to 5 feet
- Width: 4 feet
- Fragrance: strong classic rose scent
- Growing Zones: 5-9
- Heat Tolerance: does not love the heat or intense sun, but does well in mild spring weather
- Disease Resistance: very disease resistant
Celestial Night – Magenta Purple Roses
Celestial Night is one of my most magical looking roses! This is the rose that you will want to stare at and examine every time you pass by.
The blooms on this rose are medium large, old fashioned cupped blooms. As if the form wasn’t majestic enough, the color is truly magical! In cooler weather, this rose is a deep purple magenta color (as photographed). Once the weather warms up, the overall color leans more on the vibrant magenta side, but it is still stunning!
The fragrance is supposedly a moderate fruity fragrance, but I only can detect a mild floral scent. Surprisingly, this rose does pretty well in our late spring heat. We had a few weeks of 90 degrees this April, and Celestial Night still gave a huge flush of blooms that lasted almost a week before starting to crisp up. Afternoon shade and frequent watering is a must.
If you are looking for a shrub like rose with tons of blooms, Celestial Night is a great option! This is only my second growing season with Celestial Night and it has grown so much and gave one of the largest flushes of blooms out of all my rose plants (second to her neighbor, Distant Drums).
Celestial Night was created to be a very disease resistant purple rose, and it is just that! I have never had to spray for powdery mildew. In fact, I don’t recall the aphids infesting this rose as much as some of my other rose plants (aphids were awful this year!).
Celestial Night Growth Habits:
- Blooms: medium large, cupped blooms in a magical purple magenta shade
- Growth Style: floribunda with tons of clusters of blooms per stem.
- Height: 4 feet
- Width: 4 feet
- Fragrance: Mild floral scent
- Growing Zones: 5-9
- Heat Tolerance: does surprisingly well in our hot spring weather, but petals will crisp up in intense sun.
- Disease Resistance: very disease resistant!
Angel Face – Purple Roses
I will be honest, this rose only survived a year and a half in my garden. We had the hottest summer on record in 2023 and this poor rose just did not make it.
However, I really want to blame myself more than the 123 degree heat. We went on vacation during the hottest week of July and our automatic irrigation system malfunctioned and did not water anything during that week (of course). I am actually very lucky that this was the only plant in my garden that did not make it.
Had I prepared Angel Face better for the awful summer heat and made sure it had water, it would be fine. My original Angel Face was own-root, which makes me feel like a grafted version may have handled our brutal temps much better. The next time I see it at a local nursery, I do plan on repurchasing!
From what I remember, Angel Face gave the most beautiful fluttery lavender blooms with streaks of magenta purple throughout the outer petals. These blooms were always very fragrant as well!
Angel Face Rose Growth Habits:
- Blooms: Medium sized, loosely ruffled lavender & magenta blooms
- Growth Style: floribunda, multiple blooms per stem
- Height: 3 feet
- Width: 3 feet
- Fragrance: Very fragrant, old fashioned rose smell
- Growing Zones: 5-10
- Heat Tolerance: supposedly heat tolerant
- Disease Resistance: I never noticed diseases, but mine was fussy. Did not survive our record breaking hot summer.
Lavender Crush – Purple Roses
The Lavender Crush climbing rose is my most recently purchased rose (as of spring 2024). I was at Home Depot with no plans on purchasing any plants (sound familiar?) until I passed the rose section.
There are always tons of roses at all garden centers during the springtime, so I am used to “just looking”, however Lavender Crush was too beautiful to pass up. I had my two year old with me and even he shouted with enthusiasm “PURPLE!” (he loves anything purple and yellow these days). I mean, I bought it for him, really.
While I have only owned this rose for about two months now, I can say that Lavender Crush is quite the bloomer! The growth is very healthy and it seems to constantly be giving clusters of purple blooms along with very healthy foliage. The canes are very sturdy for a “climbing rose” which makes me think it could also be grown as a large shrub without a trellis.
The blooms aren’t very big, but they bloom in clusters which gives the illusion of large purple blooms. The fragrance is very strong! Lavender Crush has the most beautiful old fashioned rose and lemon scent. This is definitely a climber that will perfume your yard!
Lavender Crush Growth Habits:
- Blooms: medium full purple blooms with swirls of white closer to the center.
- Growth Style: Climbing, moderate growth speed and sturdy canes.
- Height: 10 feet
- Width: 5 feet
- Fragrance: Very strong citrus rose scent
- Growing Zones: 5-9
- Heat Tolerance: Blooms can take the desert heat for a few days with afternoon shade, but will wilt and crisp up in full sun.
- Disease Resistance: very disease resistant!
St. Elisabeth of Hungary – Purple Roses
Similar to my Zephirine Drouhin Rose, my St. Elisabeth of Hungary Rose has given me so little during the 3+ years I’ve owned her. The photo above was taken last fall, and I haven’t seen a bloom since. I am not sure if it is just the slow nature of it being an “own root” rose or if it just doesn’t like me lol.
However, I am very optimistic that this rose will absolutely blow me away one day. I have it planted against my fence in a desirable rose growing spot that receives morning sun and late afternoon shade during our hotter months. The St. Elisabeth of Hungary Rose is supposed to grow up to 5 feet wide and 10 feet high in a shrub-like form, but it’s barely 2×3 feet and leggy after 3 years.
On a more positive note, the St. Elisabeth of Hungary Rose does well in the heat! The foliage always looks very healthy and I have not had to spray for powdery mildew which is also a plus.
Fragrance is non-existent, because the blooms are practically non-existent. However, this is supposedly a very fragrant rose once established.
I am giving her another year to do something (anythinggg) before I replace her with another large shrub rose.
St. Elisabeth of Hungary Growth Habits:
- Blooms: medium fluttery lilac petals
- Growth Style: shrub with clustering blooms
- Height: 10 feet
- Width: 5 feet
- Fragrance: barely there fresh scent for me, but supposedly a very fragrant rose
- Growing Zones: 5-9
- Heat Tolerance: I’ve never seen a bloom during springtime, only one cluster last fall, but the leaves look great!
- Disease Resistance: seems to be disease resistant!
Paradise – Purple Roses
Remember those mermaid Barbies that would change colors? The Paradise Rose is basically the color changing mermaid Barbie in rose form.
The Paradise Rose is one of my most unique roses in terms of color! This hybrid tea rose starts out as a true solid lavender. As the rose bloom sits in the sun/warmth, the petals slowly change to the vivid fuschia color that is pictured. After a few days of full sun, the majority of the rose is fuschia with a tiny bit of lavender in the center where the sun does not really reach.
Along with her neighbor Love Song, the Paradise Rose is a purple rose that performs really well in my Phoenix, Arizona garden. The blooms are very large and full with a strong fruity rose fragrance. I would consider this rose to be very heat tolerant as long as it is given late afternoon shade.
Paradise Growth Habits:
- Blooms: large, classic rose shaped lavender blooms that fade to ruby magenta
- Growth Style: hybrid tea, usually 1 bloom per cane. grows a little leggy for me
- Height: 4 feet
- Width: 3 feet
- Fragrance: Barely there fresh scent
- Growing Zones: 5-10
- Heat Tolerance: does very well in Phoenix, Az! Blooms wilt after a few days of full sun
- Disease Resistance: I have had no issues!
More of my Rose Garden
I will be sharing more colors soon!
