An in depth look at Moore's yellow breeder, 1-72-1

“1-72-1” (1972):
Breeding: ‘Little Darling’ X ‘Yellow Magic’

1-72-1 is a sibling to Moore's most famous yellow, 'Rise 'N' Shine'. It is in many ways a nearly identical rose except in stature; where 'Rise 'N' Shine' is a compact plant rarely exceeding 15 inches, 1-72-1 is much larger, with somewhat arching canes to three feet or more. Both roses have a beautifully clear yellow coloring that even forty years later is hard to improve upon, but of the two I think 'Rise 'N' Shine' has the more elegant flower form.
At the time of their creation Moore was referring to shrubs like 1-72-1 as "climbing miniatures" in order to improve their marketability. It would have been very difficult in the 1970's and 1980's to sell a "miniature" rose that grew to 4 X 4 feet!

Most people don't realize that 1-72-1 almost made it into commerce in the '70s, as a kind of larger version of 'Rise 'N' Shine'; Moore submitted the rose for the American Rose Society's Award of Excellence program, and Ralph said that if it won the award, he'd put it on the market. Unfortunately it didn't win, and so it remained at Sequoia Nursery where it was put to work as a breeder. Maybe it was better that way, as it turns out to have been one of the most important miniature breeders of Moore's career, and he made good use of it. Over the years it became clear to Moore that 1-72-1 was much more able to breed strongly colored offspring than its sibling 'Rise 'N' Shine', which tended to breed a lot of whites and very pale hues. Kim Rupert has more to say about this outstanding breeding plant:

“The final unsung hero of this tale is a relative new comer. Her sister got all the glory, while she was the wallflower. I guess it’s kind of hard to be noticed when your sister is the legendary ‘Rise N Shine’. “1-72-1” came from the same cross of ‘Little Darling’ X ‘Yellow Magic’ that produced ‘Rise N Shine’, and was selected in 1972. She was chosen as a parent because she consistently produces yellow seedlings, while ‘Rise N Shine’ gives mostly white ones. In the eighteen years of introductions of her offspring, thirteen outstanding roses have resulted. She has been mated to ‘Crested Jewel’ to produce ‘Chelsea’ (1986), the first mini to possess crested sepals from ‘Crested Moss’; ‘Old Blush’ to produce ‘Pink Poodle’(1992); and back to ‘Floradora’ to create the outstanding ‘Sequoia Ruby’ (1996). Mr. Moore has even bred her to new roses not yet on the market. Week’s ‘Shadow Dancer’, itself a Moore rose, when crossed with 1-72-1 gave the delightful ‘Twister’. It’s a short climber that can be grown as a neat little shrub. It has the cleanest, brightest red, pink and white stripes yet, on ‘Cecile Brunner’ style flowers.”
For the breeder and collector, ‘Softee’ represents one of the more interesting varieties to me. Pollen from “1-72-1” was placed on “0-47-19” producing a nearly thornless, heavily blooming, little shrub. The fragrant flowers are double, soft, creamy yellow aging off-white. There is really no telling what could come from using ‘Softee’ as a parent. When I asked why he had never tried it, Mr. Moore responded he had never thought of it. I believe it important because it brings his two most successful breeders together in one rose.”

From the article, Out Of China: “Another seedling produced by the same lot as 'Rise 'N Shine; became #1-72-1, a repeat flowering miniature climber. This sister seedling of 'Rise 'N Shine' was never introduced but we have used it extensively in our breeding. From crosses of 1-72-1 X 'Gold Badge' (Floribunda) have come 'Cal Poly', (also an Award of Excellence winner), 'Work of Art', an orange blend mini climber and others.”

Known first generation offspring includes:

1979: ‘Orange Cascade’: 1-72-1 X ‘Magic Wand’, Climbing Miniature, orange Blend.
1983: ‘High Stepper’: 1-72-1 X ‘Magic Wand’, Climbing Miniature, yellow blend.
1983: ‘Softee’: 0-47-19 X 1-72-1, Miniature, white.
1986: ‘Chelsea’: 1-72-1 X ‘Crested Jewel’, medium pink, some cresting on sepals.
1987: ‘Joycie’: 1-72-1 X ‘Gold Badge’, Miniature, orange blend.
1987: ‘Snow Twinkle’: 1-72-1 X ‘Magic Carousel’, Miniature, white.
1988: ‘Golden Gardens’: 1-72-1 X ‘Gold Badge’, Miniature, medium yellow.
1989: ‘Work of Art’: 1-72-1 X ‘Gold Badge’, Climbing Miniature, orange blend.
1991: ‘Vi’s Violet’: 1-72-1 X ‘Angel Face’, Miniature, mauve.
1992: ‘Cal Poly’: 1-72-1 X ‘Gold Badge’, Miniature, medium yellow.
1992: ‘Pink Poodle’: 1-72-1 X ‘Old Blush’, Miniature, pink blend.
1993: ‘Tag-a-Long’: 1-72-1 X ‘Make Believe’, Miniature, red blend.
1993: ‘Orchid Jubilee’: 1-72-1 X ‘Make Believe’, Climbing miniature, mauve.
1996: ‘Sequoia Ruby’: 1-72-1 X ‘Floradora’, Climbing miniature, medium red.
1997: ‘Twister’: 1-72-1 X ‘Shadow Dancer’, Climbing Miniature, red blend.
1998: ‘Woodstock’: 1-72-1 X ‘Clytemnestra’, Climbing miniature, yellow blend.
2002: 'Star Dust': 1-72-1 X ‘Out of Yesteryear’, Miniflora, white blend.
2003: 'Lemon Pearls': 1-72-1 X 'Out of Yesteryear'.
2005: ‘Keith’s Delight’: 1-72-1 X ‘Rugelda’.

There have been a number of other hybrids created by Kim Rupert in recent years, marrying 1-72-1 with R. fedtschenkoana hybrids and R. hugonis, to name just two. Kim's hybrids tend to be highly unconventional shrubs that are highly experimental yet attractive, aiming to improve the shrub architecture, while exploring new aesthetic paradigms.

I too have employed 1-72-1 in my work in recent years, with various goals in mind. Most recently, I made a number of crosses using yellow breeders in combination with the AgCan breeder L83 (A. Kordesii hybrid) including 1-72-1 as one parent. I was surprised at how many seedlings displayed medium to strong yellow or orange tones from this cross. Of these, I have selected three seedlings which have superior disease resistance and have demonstrated the ability to form seeds. These will be used in breeding to pursue the creation of a modest-sized yellow shrub rose that will withstand cold winters and have improved disease resistance.

Relatively recent additions to my 1-72-1 family includes 58-06-05 and 58-06-03
two beautifully pigmented "brown" miniatures. (although at between three and five feet tall, they can hardly be called true miniatures, even though they meet the ARS guidelines for such shrubs. Its hard to know what to call these odd-sized plants) Here is 58-06-03: