Textures everywhere I look.

Busy morning, collecting pollen, cleaning up last year's selections, etc, etc., so I will be brief.

A great photo of Ralph Moore's experimental seedling "C-04", bred from 'Crested Jewel'. It was hoped to be a useful link to creating better crested Floribunda-style roses, but it was a flop as a breeder: the offspring were duds. But it remains in my collection of curious novelties where it is appreciated regularly for its unique parsley-like sepals.

From the photo library: Ralph Moore's quest for the crest.

I found this great photo of buds of Ralph's crested breeder, C-04. It is a back-cross of Crested Jewel onto Little Darling, its momma. This is a very dwarf plant, to two feet, and lacking vigor. It does, however, bloom like as mad thing, and passes the cresting on to offspring. But the offspring are invariably weak plants with very poor vigor and zero disease resistance. I keep it as a novelty and a reminder of the good old days with Ralph and Carolyn at the nursery.