The Beautiful 'Once-Blooming' Rose Variety To Plant For Vibrant Color

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Gallica roses fill your nose with pleasant aromas and your yard with seasonal color. If you're looking for a slate-purple–hued variety, then 'Cardinal de Richelieu' is the stunning rose you should grow in your garden. This heirloom cultivar earns its moniker from the French statesman and cardinal for whom it is named. It's an old favorite among the Gallica garden roses (Rosa gallica), which are also known as French roses, apothecary roses, Hungarian roses, or officinal roses. They boast a more refined beauty than today's flashy hybrid roses. It is, for example, challenging to find a new rose with the soft-purple tones and fragrance of 'Cardinal de Richelieu.'

This cultivar's fully double blooms are fleeting during the growing season — they appear only once in summer. Its once-blooming nature means you often have to wait most of the year to admire its unique purple hue. You may wonder why this plant is desirable. Don't most gardeners want flowering shrubs that produce for as long as possible? The long wait helps build its appeal. Unlike other plants that put on a display for months or rebloom, the demure 'Cardinal de Richelieu' holds its cards close to its chest. It won't bloom until it's ready, and you'd better be nearby to enjoy the flowers when it does.

Not only is this a pretty rose variety that will make your garden smell heavenly, but the shrub itself is also compact enough to fit into small spaces. It sprouts thin, upright stems, reaching no more than about 4 feet tall. Dark-green compound leaves sprout from the branches, and after the blooming period, rose hips remain on the plant through fall and winter. The leaves drop in fall, and new ones emerge after winter.

'Cardinal de Richelieu' roses thrive with the right care — and that begins at planting. The best place to plant these garden roses is a spot with full sun. This cultivar needs six or more hours a day of direct sunlight. It also needs moderately fertile and well-draining soil, though it will tolerate garden beds with poor soil. Plant a single shrub as a focal point in a low bed, or grow many in a group for clumping seasonal color. Pair this rose with other perennials that bloom at different times of the year to guarantee a pretty palette no matter the season.

After the flowering season is complete, you can prune your rose shrub. Remove dead, damaged, or diseased wood, and deadhead remaining flowers if you don't want the fruits — the hips — to grow. Prune off any stems that rub against or cross over others. That's it for regular maintenance. Occasionally, a single stem will become too thick and woody. In this case, remove the older stem at its base to allow new stems to grow in and take its place.

To grow the brightest blooms in abundance, apply fertilizer, such as Great Big Plants Soil and Rose Fertilizer Concentrate, and mulch to your 'Cardinal de Richelieu' roses in early spring. The nutrients and protection will help your shrubs sprout lush, purple flowers that really stand out in a home garden. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on the fertilizer packaging for proper dosage rates and application methods. For example, four ounces of the aforementioned fertilizer should be mixed with a gallon of water and applied to the base of a shrub.