Thursday, March 4, 2010

A cross I am very excited to see

7 comments:

  1. 'Ebb Tide' has been a strange one for me this year. It was its first year in the ground and grew to a respectable 2ft x 2ft plant that has gone through two major flushes so far. Coming into Autumn it is about to hit its third flush (thinking I will gamble and put it onto a few varieties that set hips faster and hope for the best). It has rejected every pollen I've put on it so far but I didn't dead head at all in the hope that it would set OP hips and every spent flower has formed an OP hip. I haven't been overly successful with its pollen either. I did a similar cross to this one of yours by putting 'Ebb Tide' onto 'Violette' but this failed as well (also probably due to the small size and immaturity of the plant). Along similar lines again, I put 'Ebb Tide' onto 'Sweet Chariot' and each pollination took... One of my OP 'Sweet Chariot' seedlings from this season has grown into a 2ft x 2ft bush already and will probably develop into a low-mid climber over the coming years as I suspect the pollen parent was a large multiflora plant growing next to it (it hasn't flowered this season adding to this theory). You did well to get this seedling based on my local flowering periods. Here 'Veilchenblau' had finished long before 'Ebb Tide' even looked like flowering. Look forward to seeing how this seedling of yours progresses over the coming year :)

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  2. Simon,
    The other cross, 'Midnight Blue' X 'Veilchenblau' has started germinating this morning also, with three seedlings up already. I'm very hopeful to get 100 seedlings from this lot, to see what the cross is really capable of. I'm picturing a fully remontant Multiflora style climber of medium size, with dark purple 1" to 2" blooms cascading down the canes. Sound appealing? :-)

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  3. It sounds very appealing, Paul..Oh, please add some magical fragrance to the wish list too (if ya don't mind?!..lol)

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  4. Paul,
    You did it! Harry Wheatcroft in his book strongly recommended crossing Veilchenblau with mauves.
    I had some OP Veilchenblau seedlings sprout about 4 years ago and lost them all to damping off. I started some again last fall and had a lot sprout but again have lost about half to damping off. They are in pure perlite. I even boiled the water I use on them [using it after it had cooled of course]. I really like Veilchenblau and its smooth canes is one of its big attractions for me plus it does quite well in water logged soil. Once I get my seed sprouting/growing down pat I'll try crossing it. Looking forward to see the flowers on your crosses.
    Jim Provenzano

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  5. Jim,
    Since I posted this photo, the other cross ('Midnight Blue' X 'Veilchenblau') has been sprouting like the proverbial weeds. I probably have 40 seedlings up already. I think this has much promise!

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  6. Your excitement is understandable. Veilchenblau is a very interesting rose.

    >> I probably have 40 seedlings up already

    Veilchenblau pollen on single bloom of R. virginiana worked well enough to yield five tiny seedlings that have just been potted up. I have no idea of what to expect and I haven't given any thought to where to go with them but I'll repeat the cross this year to get more to choose from.

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