Dargaville friend Margaret Bell sent a rose down to Struan Farm for our new house a year or so ago, right before John finished his governance gig up in the Kaipara. At that point we were really just starting the gardens, and I was on the hunt for different things (which I still am!). I think it was grown from a cutting of a rose in her gardens. She advised it was a vigorous grower, and to pop it against a fence somewhere and give it plenty of room, which I did.
But I was still surprised a few days ago when I walked out to find a lovely, old fashioned looking, purple rose in bloom in our large bed that runs along two fences at the back end of the lawn. It has heaps of flowers and buds in a beautiful, unusual magenta colour. I remembered that this was "Margaret's Purple Rose."
Margaret's Purple Rose is happy and thriving in Piopio, phew! She joins Madame Leonie and Paddy Stevens as a much welcomed early bloomer.
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