I don't think so, but it sure is pretty. My new plant bloomed a little lavender/pink, but not like that. The bloom form doesn't look right either. The photo on their site doesn't look at all like it.

I'm curious what it is. Even in full sun, I don't think it should look like that, but let the experts chime in.

Seems to be the wrong color, especially the lighter fade of the outer petals. Does it have any thorns? RdV is virtually thornless in our garden.

Does the foliage smell like pepper? If not, it isn't Reines des Violettes. The bloom looks wrong to me, not just in color but also in form.

'Comte de Chambord'? How is the fragrance. CdC is quite perfume-y

It does look like CdC

The outer petals on your blooms looks almost white ... I have never seen that on my specimen of Reine des Violettes. The color on RdV can be variable from season to season, and with weather changes, but that light of a color would be very rare on RdV. But the matt blue-green foliage and the button eye on your blooms keeps me from completely ruling it out, because those are definite traits of RdV. And if I recall, the very first summer after planting my RdV, it had some initial blooms that were much lighter in color than I have ever seen on my specimen since that first season. Here's the complete list of traits on my Reine des Violettes that when taken in combination ensure the true RdV:

1. Bloom coloration blending from violet to pink to near-red to near-purple. Sometimes all at once in a single bloom. The fully aged bloom typically becomes more of a solid color, sometimes dusty violet with almost a dove grey cast to it.

2. Matt leaves (never glossy) that look kind of blue-green.

3. I've never seen a single thorn on any of the canes of my RdV. And the tiny prickles under the leaf mid-ribs are so small they feel more like sand paper than prickles. This is an extremely smooth and harmless plant.

4. Very long, arching canes when left unpruned. And blooms appear all along the canes on short side-shoots when the long, main canes are allowed to grow horizontally.

5. Deep, rich "old rose" fragrance.

6. Its blooms always have a very neat, tighly packed, perfectly formed button eye. Like the buttons on an antique Victorian velvet loveseat.

The photo posted above by Cactus Joe is very typical of my RdV ... notice the mix of color on his bloom from violet to almost rich red.

Randy

The bloom form does look more like CdC than RdV. My RdV is young and more pink than I thought, but it's not that pink.

In our experience, the pink that RdV turns to in hot weather is more of a "hot" pink.

Jeri

Could it be Madame Pierre Oger? The blooms look like those on mine.

Well, thanks everyone, for answering. I went on the Pickering site to check the other HP's they offered, and found one that looked similar: Mme Boll. Then I checked HMF for CdC, and they claim there is confusion between Mme Boll and CdC. So, maybe it's one of those. It certainly looks like them.
Randy, I went outside just now, got down on my knees (it's still pretty small!) and sniffed, touched, and stared at the leaves and the center of the bloom (my neighbours are wondering "What is she doing out there at dusk, crawling around like that?"). I cannot feel any thorns, just some very fine prickles under the leaves. I can't smell anything right now, nor can I detect the scent of pepper on the leaves, but that could be my nose, or the time of day. They do seem to have a button eye, though, at least in my inexperienced opinion.
I emailed Pickering tonight with photos, and hopefully, they can solve this mystery. I will keep you posted.
Thanks again,
Judith

I also received a Reine de Violettes from Pickering this year, and my first blooms look nothing like your pic. Mine are definitely more like Cactus Joe's pic.

Another option is Gertrude Jeckyl, who resemebels CdC very much. Both GJ and CdC are intensely fragrant, though.

Well, I think the blossoms are a different color, but that foliage very strongly resembles 'Reine des Violettes' I've grown and it is quite a distinctive rose that way... so I personally think that if the color turns out to be stable and not dependent on weather/fertility variables, you could well have a sport.

Veilchen, is GJ thornless? My 'RdV' has no thorns, just very fine prickles under the leaves. And maybe it was the time of day when I checked for fragrance, or the fact that it is still so low to the ground, I couldn't get my nose right into it! There's not that much space to manouever in my garden beds:)

Stefan, now that's exciting - a sport as lovely as this one. I will wait to see what Pickering has to say first before I start asking what I do about a new sport!

Thanks,

Judith

GJ is VERY thorny.
Olga

Judith, I can just visualize you crawling around on the ground feeling and sniffing your little rose. Too funny.

There are just not many possibilities for a rose with foliage that looks like RdV and for canes that are thornless like RdV. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that you have discovered a new sport of Rdv, like Stefan suggested. More than likely though, you will see more RdV-like blooms as your little rose grows. But one can hope for a sport of this great rose.

Randy

Sometimes the first flush of blooms on a plant that has travelled through the mail will be a paler color that they are supposed to be... In that case you'll have to wait for the second flush to see if they are the same color or not...

Another thing to consider, is that lots of mail order companies keep their plants in alphabetical order... so if it's not RDV, it might be a plant that starts with a P, R or S etc...

Stefan, I will just have to pamper this little rose all summer, hopefully to encourage a quicker re-bloom. I read, though, that HP's don't rebloom reliably when they are young, so this will take a whole lot of patience on my part!
Decobug,that's an interesting point.. the next rainy day I will sit down and check out all the P,R & S roses, and their pictures and descriptions, that Pickering offers. Unless, of course, they get back to me before that....
Judith

Well, I received an email from Pickering and they also think it might be a sport, after examining my pictures. I will continue to photograph the next set of blooms, and keep them updated. In the meantime, I have been issued a credit for 'RdV' and another rose that failed. I am very pleased with their customer service.

Anyone know what is the procedure to be followed in the event that it turns out to be sport? Do I get to name it?! This is pretty exciting....but I had better not get too worked up just in case in turns out to be a false alarm LOL
Judith

Bump....
I posted an update, above, and was wondering if anyone could answer the question about what to do when a sport is discovered. Thanks!
Judith

You take cuttings and propagate it and grow it out to see if it is stable-lots of sports are not stable and will revert(a sport is a mistake in the genetic code of the bud that made the plant) If it continues to stay stable (and is not identified as a shipping mistake in your case since the whole bush is different) you send it off to who ever is interested in selling it and yes, you get to name it.

patricia

Thanks, Patricia. Joel at Pickering says everything about the bush in my photos is RdV, except for the light pink blooms. I did go out and see if I could take cuttings of those three stems, but they were only 2-3" long (it is still a Very small bush), so I didn't even try it. Is it possible to succeed with a cutting so small? Anyways, there are a couple more buds coming up, so we shall see if the sporting continues.
Hmmmmm...gotta start thinking of a really good name...
Judith
(..who is counting her chickens before they hatch)

i'm glad you posted this item, Judith, as I also planted (just this Spring-when did you get yours?) a Reine des Violettes from Pickering. No flowers yet, and the leaves seem somewhat more bluish than yours; still, after your post, I wait for next year on this rose with great anticipation.

Sounds like they have very nice customer service.
It's true what patriciae said about some sports not being stable, but if yours is a sport, I hope it is stable ... how cool would that be! My Vick's Caprice reverted back to Archiduchesse Elisabeth d'Autriche.

Randy

Randy, it would be very exciting if stable! I looked on HMF for your VC and AEdA and they are both such lovely roses, but even so, you plan for one and end up with the other.
Geo, I planted mine just this spring also (April 18). I had the above three blooms, and now a couple more buds are coming up, so I'm now anxiously awaiting the opening of these new flowers...
Judith

Another trait of RdV is each individual flower shatters after only a couple of days. Does yours do this?

Let those canes mature..the best time to take cuttings from this sort of rose is after the blooms are spent and the cane hardens up a bit..watch for when the canes are about pencil size..the safest is to air root. Remove some leaves and make a slice down one side-removing a thin layer of bark at a leaf node about an inch long-maybe 1/3 of the bark-leave the rest to support the cane while it roots. You want to get through the green layer to white. Dust the cut area with rooting hormone and wrap a wad of damp peat moss around the cut-wrap that all in plastic wrap and tie at top and bottom..check from time to time to see if it is moist and watch for roots..you can put in a stake to tie it all to for support..dont cut into the stem as roses are too brittle for that. I have rooted Rugosas this way as they are hard to root sometimes. It is very safe with something you dont want to lose...hope it works!

patricia

I'm going to say it could be RdV, but to give it time. Mine has blooms that can be more pink than purple when there's variation in day-nightime temperature and overall heat.

Here's my RdV from yesterday evening:

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Although I am smitten with the fragrance, I am not pleased with the way it opens or tolerates bright, hot June days. It's just about perfect in cool September