86-05-20

This is a seedling from a cross of 'Yellow Charles Austin' and 'Out of Yesteryear'. It is by far the strongest yellow I have obtained from the 'Out of Yesteryear' breeding line. I used this in 2009 mostly as a pollen parent, obtaining a good amount of seed from the crosses attempted. All crosses using it as a seed parent failed and so I doubt this will ever set seed reliably (or at all).

Like many of the full sized Hybrid Bracteatas, this has rather sprawling/arching canes, eventually making a kind of bowl shaped plant. I don't recall that it has a particularly good fragrance. Foliage is dark green, glossy and quite healthy. I have chosen this as a test breeder because of that rich yellow coloring, which it will hopefully pass on to its offspring. Getting deeply pigmented hybrids from the 'Out of Yesteryear' breeding line has been particularly difficult. Maybe this seedling will be a turning point?

The search for yellow in R. bracteata hybrids.

Parentage: 'Charles Austin' X 'Out of Yesteryear'.

I've mentioned this before: it can be very difficult to get good coloring in seedlings when using 'Out of Yesteryear' as a parent. However, once in a while luck drops something decent in your lap. This seedling is the best yellow I have had from the Bracteata breeding line so far. It may not be the most sophisticated bloom in terms of shape and petal count, but it has a beautiful rich yellow hue and it holds its color for quite a long time. It appears to have excellent resistance to Blackspot, which is a great thing. It has no discernible fragrance though. Its long basal canes break into bloom along most of the upper half of their length, with one to five blooms per lateral. It makes an attractive shrub overall.

I'm not sure this has merit as a "finished product" and so I am currently using it solely as a breeder to see if it passes on its color and excellent growth habit to its progeny. I will soon be seeing some of its first offspring bloom, so with luck I will start to get an idea of its potential as a breeder.It does not appear to set seed but its pollen is fertile. It is entirely possible that it is a triploid, as 'Out of Yesteryear' produces both haploid and diploid pollen.