I should be writing something substantial, meaningful, educational, but today I'm not in that frame of mind. However, I will share with you today's new photo of my current favorite seedling: 53-08-09 ('Midnight Blue' X L83).Click on the image for a much larger view.
This is a Kordesii hybrid and as such, it may exhibit both superior Winter hardiness and disease resistance. It's still very young, and only recently transitioned out into the garden, so these aspects of its nature are yet to be determined. In the meantime, I am going to admire its wonderful color (no photo I take does its hue justice: it is a much richer, more vibrant purple/magenta than it appears here) I have learned that it is remarkably easy to propagate as well, something many modern roses sorely lack.
Brilliant color Paul. This is educational and meaningful, LOL! I am looking forward to crossing Midnight Blue and Veilchenblau. Didn't you make that cross? Any results yet? I liked your comment on RHA that Midnight Blue reduces thorniness. I am tired of wearing battle scars from my dealings with the roses.
ReplyDeleteJim P.
Hi Jim,
ReplyDeleteGlad you like this one :-)
As for the Midnight Blue X Veilchenblau, yes, I made that cross last year and got loads of seedlings. Within a few weeks of germination, nearly 100% of them became stunted with chronic mildew and not one of them has flowered still. About 70% died from disease and/or genetic weakness and the few left don't look so good. I regard that cross as a total failure and will try doing Midnight Blue X Violette next year instead.
Beautiful colour. I agree with Jim... everything you write and photograph is educational... in different ways. This the second website I check routinely every day just to see if there are updates... I hang out for the updates :)
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about trying to work with Kordesii blood... all I can find downunder is 'Sympathy' and 'Max Graf'... what do you think of 'Sympathy' as a starting point? You can still see the rugosa crinkle in the petals here can't you :)
Simon,
ReplyDeleteI expect you mean Sympathie, yes? I know that some of the RHA members are using it in breeding Winter hardy roses, so you might want to ask on the RHA forum about that. It has bred several generations of hybrids, but it appears most efforts have leaned towards the Hybrid Tea style, which doesn't much appeal to me. I expect it has some capability for breeding other types of roses that would be very much worth pursuing. You may also want to get that Max Graf, simply because it is so much closer to the Kordesii lineage (precedes it, actually!) than Sympathie.
And yes, curiously, you can still see evidence of the Rugosa petal crinkle effect in that seedling! I wish you could see it today, with several large clusters of rich purple blooms all open at once. Its really pretty.
Had to double-check that, Paul... On HMF I was typing 'Sympathy' and getting the listing I wanted. I didn't even notice that it was spelt differently. Then I also noticed HMF have changed their search preferences, the first being 'Best Match', which is why it was coming up as a +ve hit. I was 'Begins with' not too long ago. Must try and be more observant.
ReplyDeleteSince posting this I have actually found two more kordesii hybrids; 'Red Max Graaf' and 'Dortmund'. RHA archives were not exactly full of praise about either. It would be interesting to go the 'Max Graf' route... hmmm. 2n pollen has happened a few times now... maybe it could happen again. If using 'Sympathie' I think I would be going down the hybrid musk line, or species cross line (back to rugosa interests me). I don't have any desire to make HT-style roses.
Maybe one day I could get to see it... Would love to do a tour of the U.S. to put faces to names of people who have been so helpful.
Paul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the Midnight Blue cross with Veilchenblau. Bummer! I was looking forward to it. May try a reversal. Have 4 Veilchenblau OPs coming along. Seemed to have killed off the other 15 or so. I still don't have my seed germination down pat to avoid damping off, even when I use total perlite. Thanks for responding.
Jim
Oh, I love it! Color and form together are just wonderful.
ReplyDelete