While there is no such thing as a true blue rose, this month’s featured rose is often described as of the bluest to be developed in the world of roses.
A stunning sight in full bloom, Veilchenblau covers itself in clusters of purple – violet flowers with a white centre, fading to lilac grey during its one flush of flower each season. Sweetly fragrant, the plant is also very easy to grow being thorn-free, very disease tolerant and also able to grow in semi-shade reasonably well.
Veilchenblau is an old fashioned rambling rose bred in the early part of last century, but has stood the test of time and is still well worth growing today. It does require a bit of room in the garden, getting to a height of 4.5 metres so it is one for the larger garden.
Bred in Germany, hence the name. It is also known as Bleu Violet, Blue Rambler, Blue Rosalie and Violet Blue.