PURPLE RAIN ® – violet-purple groundcover rose – KORpurlig
Groundcover PURPLE RAIN ® Vigorosa® KORpurlig offers dense, spreading cover with very full, small rosette blooms that hold a crimson‑lilac tone reliably in project conditions, supporting high‑impact, low‑maintenance mass planting. Its remontant flowering with a plentiful second flush, combined with good disease resistance and H7 winter hardiness, helps You plan uniform, bush‑trained finished material for nursery beds, 1.5–2 L containers and large‑scale project planting. The own‑root propagation base underpins predictable, renewable stands for landscape contractors and project‑serving wholesalers, supporting homogeneous batches, low replacement and stable scheduling across varied UK climates, including exposed northern sites with reliable winter and wind tolerance. With coverage driven by its prostrate habit and moderately dense, mid‑green foliage, PURPLE RAIN ® aligns well with professional demands for fast establishment, long‑term ornamental value and streamlined maintenance in thematic rose collections and urban green space frameworks, following the natural arc from root build‑up in year one, structural canopy in year two and full ornamental expression from year three in the landscape context.
Usage options
Finished-product ideas
- Municipal Groundcover Module 2L – 1.5–2 L own-root, bush-trained units targeting fast, uniform ground coverage in parks and verges, using the spreading habit and disease resistance to minimise maintenance – landscape contractor networks.
- Urban Edge Rose Line – compact, dense plants for edging beds and paths, capitalising on self-cleaning flowers and low care needs, grown in 1.5–2 L pots for efficient project planting – project-serving wholesalers.
- Heat-Tolerant Forecourt Rose Tub – container-grown specimens shifted from 2 L to 40–50 litre display tubs, using heat tolerance and remontant colour for commercial entrances and terraces – corporate and retail landscape suppliers.
- Thematic Crimson-Lilac Collection Block – uniform plots in nursery or show gardens maintained on own roots, combining stable colour expression and authenticity for cultivar collections and demonstration beds – thematic rose gardens and show venues.
- Mass Planting Retail Project Pack – batch-coordinated 1.5–2 L material for large landscape contracts, leveraging rapid coverage and winter hardiness for predictable rollout schedules – integrator systems and public-realm frameworks.
Technical cultivar profile
| Parameter |
Data |
| Name and registration |
Groundcover rose from the Vigorosa® collection, registered as KORpurlig, marketed as PURPLE RAIN ® Vigorosa®, with American Rose Society exhibition name PURPLE RAIN for professional and show use. |
| Origin and breeding |
Bred in Germany in 1998 by Tim-Hermann Kordes from cross ‘Bassino’ × ‘KORpeligo’, introduced and registered in 2009 via W. Kordes’ Söhne and Star Roses & Plants for international markets. |
| Awards and recognition |
Recognised with multiple distinctions, including Wilhelmsburg International Rose Competition Silver Medal 2013 and Hradec Králové Rose Competition Certificate 2014, plus several European display garden awards. |
| Growth and structural characteristics |
Spreading, prostrate shrub with 40–65 cm height and 60–100 cm spread, moderately dense mid‑green, slightly glossy foliage, moderate prickles and reliably good self-cleaning of spent blooms. |
| Flower morphology |
Small, 0.5–1.5 inch clusters of very full rosette blooms with 40+ petals, borne in inflorescences that repeat well, providing a plentiful second flush for sustained ornamental coverage in season. |
| Colour data and phenology |
Uniform crimson-lilac tone, ARS code m, RHS 77B outer and 77A inner; colour lightens gradually to a pastel violet-purple with rosy-lilac sheen while retaining overall effect before petal drop. |
| Fragrance and aroma |
No noticeable fragrance; very double flowers provide visual rather than olfactory impact, with dense petals limiting pollinator access, so it is not regarded as a pollinator-supporting cultivar in plantings. |
| Hip characteristics |
Moderate set of small spherical hips, around 5–8 mm in diameter, remaining green; hips are largely incidental to the ornamental value during the main flowering and coverage period. |
| Resistance and winter hardiness |
Rated resistant to powdery mildew, black spot and rust, with H7 hardiness, Swedish Zone 4 and USDA 5b performance; tolerates heat and moderate drought but benefits from watering in prolonged dry spells. |
| Horticultural recommendations |
Suited to groundcover, beds, parks, edging, containers and urban green space; low maintenance with minimal care needs; best supplied as uniform, dense, bush-trained finished plants for project mass planting. |
PURPLE RAIN ® Vigorosa® KORpurlig combines dense groundcover habit, strong disease resistance and H7 hardiness on a reliable own-root base for predictable, regenerative stands; please contact us to align on propagation capacity and project scheduling.
