John Grunden reports that his bush planted in the ground threw out 6 canes. This is my groundcover discovery of the year. Planted in a barrel, the first-year bush exploded with a tangle of canes and tons of attractive pink blooms that held their color and lasted as new bursts followed, yielding continuous bloom through the summer, getting better and better. The white variety has no genetic relationship to the pink varieties, so the characteristics are different. The blooms are somewhat self-cleaning, dropping as they fade, but a little grooming is necessary to keep the bush looking fresh.
Bloom comes in waves, but fairly regularly.
My bush tended towards a bit of blackspot. After two years, the bush fills the barrel, but barely overflows. Although I haven t grown this variety, my daughter in Wenatchee has one that is never fed or sprayed, lightly pruned, but well watered. After three years, the bush is 3 high and 10 across, spotlessly clean and vigorous, with laterals and canes shooting everywhere topped with large clusters of shapeless deep pink blooms. The semi-double to double blooms are not self cleaning, so some deadheading is necessary for a really attractive display, but this looks like a good candidate for the plant it and leave it crowd.