I was documenting seedlings in "number four" yesterday and took the opportunity to photograph one of my favorite moderns, 'Midnight Blue', by Tom Carruth. Echoing a recent comment by Jim Sproul, it is one of the few named varieties I still use in breeding. (I mostly use my own proprietary hybrids nowadays)'Midnight Blue' is a truly amazing shrub. What color! It is also a very willing and capable seed/pollen parent; it is one of the few roses I can expect consistently good numbers of fertile seeds from, regardless of what the pollen parent placed on it.
Busy day, off to work!
Beautiful shot, Paul. Thanks. Midnight Blue has to go down in history as one of Tom Carruth's masterpieces. Thornless, rudely healthy in my climate, ever-flowering in those scrumptious colors and that scent! Thanks for the heads-up that it's a good breeder both ways. Please keep making those wonderful babies with it! Kim
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