the leaves

Wow, that's all I can say! Except, if you ever wanted to share....

Is it really that purple, or is it actually more of a cherry red? If the latter, I would consider 'Excelsa' as a possibility. It certainly appears to be one of the Wichurana Rambler types, looking at that foliage. Are the canes quite lax (not self-supporting) in general?

I would not describe the bloom as cherry red. I'd say it's more of a dusty red, with a purplish tint. On my monitor, it's coming through as a more of a floruescent purple than it is in real life.

The canes are very lax. If I cut them down, they just run along the ground. I've attached a larger pic of the rose. It is usually much fuller than this, I did some flower bed work around it so ended up needing to cut it back severely this spring to a couple canes.

And I'm certainly happy to share, but have no idea how to ship a rose cutting.

Well, it doesn't seem to want to upload my photo. Not sure why - it's only 84K. I'll try back later.

I've looked at some online postings of the Excelsia rose, including the Walsh Catalog which was mentioned on a different posting somewhere in this forum. Based on the pictures and descriptions I'm seeing it certainly seems there's a real good chance it is Excelsia.

The only thing that makes me scratch my head is I came across one web page that listed zone 6 as it's northernmost limit. We are sitting in 5a, and had a terribly punishing winter as most people did. It had virtually no winterkill on the canes at all. The other six knockout roses planted around it all died.

"I would not describe the bloom as cherry red. I'd say it's more of a dusty red, with a purplish tint. "

If it has ANY hint of purple to it, I think you can safely rule out 'Excelsa' as a possibility.

As luck would have it, one of my red double knock out roses started blooming next to it. Which helps me gauge the true color of these blooms. It's nice to have a red to compare against, vs. the mulch and siding I had.

If you consider the double red knockout as a baseline for "red", these fall more into the hot or deep pink category. I'm not seeing the purple I thought was there, now that I have something to compare against.

Not sure if this helps or not. It certainly looks like some sort of Wichurana rambler as I look at the pictures online. Dorothy Perkins could be a suspect, but the pictures look too light of a pink.

I certainly appreciate all the help so far! I've learned a lot, and the research into ramblers has been interesting. I now know I want to take a cutting and let it "ramble" somewhere on my property. It looks nice on my trellis up front - but I have to keep it cut back pretty severely so that it doesn't take over the sidewalk/flower bed.

I assure you, you can rule out 'Dorothy Perkins' which is a "shell pink"* hue quite unlike most any other Wichurana Rambler, and about as distinct from the color of your plant as possible! 'Dorothy Perkins' is also a very loosely double bloom with rarely more than 18 or 20 petals.

* A warm pink of a medium-pale tint. No hint of lavender, magenta or purple whatsoever.

Are you still seeking an ID? Since it looks like an older rose, it might be worth trying the Antique Rose Forum for more suggestions. Other helpful info. to include would be a description of the scent, if any (apple-like, sweet, spicy; intense or light, etc.), whether and how much it repeat-blooms, and perhaps a picture of the whole plant, with an idea of its overall size at its biggest, and whether/ how much it mildews and/or blackspots. :-)

I think I'm still seeking a confirmation on the variety. It seems like it's a good chance it's Excelsia, but I don't think that's 100% confirmed yet. It would have been helpful had I taken pictures that included another shade of red/pink for reference. It's done blooming now for the year, so maybe next time....

There's no scent that I could tell. I tried smelling one of the newer flowers back when I posted this and didn't get anything.

No repeat blooming that I remember. Will watch this year to confirm.

I've never let it grow full bore, but the canes are easily 7-8 feet.

It definitely shows signs of both mildew and blackspot, typically right after blooming.

I'll repeat this info in the other forum, just wanted to add it here too.

Note the spelling is 'Excelsa'.

I have an Excela , indeed since childhood. What I'm getting from the pics just looks a touch too pinkish. But could that just be the pics. Is it red ? or is there a pink or purpurlish tint to it, however slight ? It's certainly beautiful , glad you saved it !! Well Done.

Woops ! I meant Excelsa. Don't wish to complicate names further. Typo - sorry.

EmmieGray proffered "Bleu Magenta."