The image above show the bee enjoying my Purple Pavement rose. This hardy rose (zone 3) actually survived the 2009/2010 winter. Because of a warmer than usual fall and a slight snow cover, my Morden roses along with many perennials forgot to settle in for a long winter's nap. Ergo, they did not emerge in the spring.
My 2 Pavement roses, the Purple and the Foxi not only survived, but are blooming in great numbers. This is one tough rose shrub. If you want colour and fragrance along a driveway or walkway...even if you throw salt to melt the snow, this shrub will arrive the following spring.
And yes, they are both very fragrant. Even working a few feet from the shrubs, I can still smell the sweet fragrance. The Purple is a single bloom, while the Foxi is a double deep pink bloom. I purchased them last year at the end of the season and I must say they did not look very healthy. As usual, I figured I could nurse them back to health and indeed I did.
The draw back to the Pavement rose are the very thorny (wear thick gloves) stems and the inside leaves have a tendency to turn yellow early on. I check on my Pavement roses regularly and snip off the yellowing leaves. Don't forget to feed your roses (once every 2 to 3 weeks) and deadhead the spent blooms to keep the rose blooming. Stop feeding and deadheading at the end of August and allow the shrub to form the beautiful huge rosehips. Hopefully by not feeding and not deadheading, the rose shrub understands that it must now get ready for their winter sleep. This doesn't mean that the rose stops blooming. At the end of August there will still be plenty of buds on the shrub to bloom all the way through September. Last year my Pavement roses bloomed into October. Besides, the huge bright red rosehips are very attractive all by themselves.
