Commercially available

38 favorite votes.  
Average rating: EXCELLENT-.  

Mauve or mauve blend Shrub.

Bred by Kim L. Rupert (United States, 1993).

Shrub.  

Purple and red.  Mild to strong, cinnamon, clove, spice fragrance.  Average diameter 1".  Small to medium, very double, cluster-flowered, old-fashioned bloom form.  Continuous (perpetual) bloom throughout the season.  

Bushy, compact, dense, rounded.  Small, matte, dark green foliage.  

Height: 18" to 30" (45 to 75cm).  Width: 18" to 30" (45 to 75cm).

USDA zone 6b through 9b (default).  Can be used for beds and borders, container rose, garden, hanging basket, hedge, landscape, rock garden, shrub or specimen.  

Purple is MY color in flowers! I was lost the first time I saw the photos of Harkness' Cardinal Hume, so much so, I imported it directly from the Harkness Nursery the first year it was available. What a rose! My only objection, IF I had one about it, is the plant size. Here in Southern California, it's a rather large, spreading shrub, which isn't a bad thing, just inconvenient for many newer gardens.

I was intrigued by what may be possible from Cardinal Hume's genes and began playing with it as soon as it bloomed. Purple Buttons was one of the first seedlings to germinate from the Cardinal's hips. Amazingly, it is precisely the same color, petal substance and wonderful "Red Hots" fragrance of the seed parent, only on a compact, polyantha-like plant. The fragrance has been described quite a few different ways. To me, it smells exactly the way the hot cinnamon candy, Red Hots, taste. There's really nothing else quite like it.

Purple Buttons can make a neat, short, dense fragrant hedge; grows well in a medium to large pot for deck, patio and balcony use; bedding, specimen or gift plant. It also makes a splendid patio standard. From experience, it is a rose which is happier in a warm, dry climate. Due to the intensely dark coloring of the flowers, it appreciates afternoon shade in hotter climates and situations.

Ashdown Roses says that if you like 'Cardinal Hume' but don't have room to grow it then this is the rose for you! Same color, fragrance and flower size as 'Cardinal Hume', but on a smaller plant...