47-06-13
47-06-11
47-06-03
47-06-09
We recently had a week of unseasonably cold weather and this group of seedlings was kept in an unheated greenhouse and was subjected to the full extent of the cold snap. Night temps went as low as 8F and these containers, along with most of my collection, froze solid. I allowed this to happen in order to test the freeze survivability of these seedlings. I know, thats a harsh thing to do, but I felt it was necessary. Sadly, one of the prettiest of this four, 47-06-09 was killed by the freeze as far as I can tell. There is no live wood left on the plant and that does not bode well. Ah well, this is what must be done to find out who can tolerate freezes and who can't. Most rose growers in North America need Winter hardy plants for their modern gardens and I need to take that into consideration.
47-06-13 has a lovely shape to it... and I guess it is some consolation that 47-6-07 is similar to 09... unless it too fared poorly outdoors... does the soil freeze where you are too? I would have thought you'd test freeze hardiness in the grounds instead of pots where the roots will freeze as well... obviously I know nothing of really cold weather being here in Australia... I was thinking part of testing freeze hardiness would be to see if the roots survived and resprouted in spring.
ReplyDeleteI was also wondering... were these photos taken recently or were they taken before the cold winter set in? Taking plants in this leafed up state out into that cold weather would be different to letting them get use to the idea of getting cold gradually wouldn't it?
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteHere you reveal some aspects of rose breeding which are totally brutal and also logical to undertake, in order to get to a specific end-goal.
Hey, I hope your 47-06 line generates exciting discoveries for you, in future generations.
Simon,
ReplyDeleteOut in the open garden the soil doesn't freeze more than an inch or so deep. Exposing container grown plants to that kind of cold is far more likely to result in death of a plant that might otherwise only suffer severe cane loss. But my thinking is that if it is going to suffer severe cane loss, then its no use to me anyway.
These photos are all from May 2009. All plants had a long, slow descent into Winter weather before the cold snap, and so were acclimatized and in dormancy when the cold hit.
Brutal, yes, George, but not without purpose and meaning. Right now, all I hope is that one of the survivors will have sufficient pollen fertility to carry into another generation.