More from 'Joycie' X 'Fortune's Double Yellow'

More of the seedlings from the 47-03 group. In this order:

47-06-13

47-06-11

47-06-03

47-06-09

We recently had a week of unseasonably cold weather and this group of seedlings was kept in an unheated greenhouse and was subjected to the full extent of the cold snap. Night temps went as low as 8F and these containers, along with most of my collection, froze solid. I allowed this to happen in order to test the freeze survivability of these seedlings. I know, thats a harsh thing to do, but I felt it was necessary. Sadly, one of the prettiest of this four, 47-06-09 was killed by the freeze as far as I can tell. There is no live wood left on the plant and that does not bode well. Ah well, this is what must be done to find out who can tolerate freezes and who can't. Most rose growers in North America need Winter hardy plants for their modern gardens and I need to take that into consideration.

47-06-05: 'Joycie' X 'Fortune's Yellow'

Yet another seedling from this group. Larger foliage than some of the others, and the bloom was close to 2.5". Long arching canes to 5 feet so far, undoubtedly will get bigger. No pollen that I could find, and did not set seed. I doubt I will try to use it in breeding, as I dislike the muddled bloom form with the misshapen petaloids at the center.

47-06-06: another 'Joycie' X Fortune's Yellow' seedling.

Pictured here is 47-06-06, the sixth of this group of seedlings to bloom.

Similar to the others from this batch it has arching growth to at least 6 feet, blooms once and doesn't set seed. Its pollen was tried on a few seed parents and one hip resulted from a cross with 'June Laver'. I will probably make more attempts to use it in breeding this coming Spring.

This was the reddest of the lot and curiously it has some white China-like streaks in some of the outer petals. This seedling is phototropic, darkening in color as it ages. No fragrance was detected. Ploidy: probably a triploid, considering its pedigree.

47-06-01: Joycie X Fortune's Yellow

This week I was sorting through my 2009 photo library and encountered a group of photos depicting seedlings from a 2006 cross of 'Joycie' X 'Fortune's Double Yellow'. For most of these seedlings, 2009 was their first flowering and I documented all of the dozen or so that had bloomed. I intended on writing about these ages ago, but had forgotten to do so!

Rather than assemble these photos all into one article, I am going to present them one at a time over a period of a few days. More fun that way, don't you think? ;-)

47-06-01, the seedling depicted here, was the first one to bloom, flowering for the first time in 2008. It was one of only two that bloomed in its second year and this photo illustrates its second year of blooming. As it happens, this is the only one out of 14 that shows strong yellow/orange coloring. The rest are pinks with various shadings of red or peach. (well, one is a clear pink and one is a lavender/pink) This bloom is about 1.5" in diameter, has no fragrance, lasts for several days and tends to deepen in color rather than fading with age. The photo is an accurate depiction: it is a deep yellow/orange with a dark rust colored overlay towards the outer petal edges.

The idea here had been to introduce remontancy genes into the 'Fortune's Yellow' breeding, and to reduce the size of the plant by using 'Joycie', a miniature. It was hoped that some strong yellows would result, but that wasn't the case, except this one plant. None of these seedlings has shown any inclination to repeat, which may or may not happen with age. However, all of these seedlings should have one copy of the modern remontancy gene which can be passed on to the next generation, assuming there is some fertility moving forward.

47-06-01 is one of about four selections that I attempted to use in breeding in 2009. Not one of these four set seed (in fact none of this group of seedlings set open pollinated seed). However, pollen from this seedling (and one other, which I will describe soon) did result in a few seeds when placed on some of my more willing seed setters. We will see in a few months whether any of these seeds is viable or not. I will continue to use pollen from two seedlings from this cross in other crosses in 2010.

In terms of plant habit and behavior, this seedling (and most of the others) is what you might describe as a "climbing miniature", with long arching canes that branch and bloom on the lateral branches. Most of these remain under 6 feet tall so far, but I get the impression that some of them will exceed that height by at least 2X. All but one have small, modern looking foliage. At this time, all are growing in containers in one greenhouse, and so I know little about disease resistance, except to say that they have all shown a marked resistance to Mildew when grown under glass. All of these are moderately thorny as well, and have proven to be quite deciduous, unlike 'Fortune's Yellow' which is inclined to hang on to its foliage.

Stay tuned for more about the 47-06 group.

Old dogs and new tricks, part III

In 2006 I decided to do an experiment with 'Fortune's Double Yellow', the massive climbing Hybrid Gigantea, by putting its pollen on my favorite orange mini breeder, 'Joycie'. Why? To see what would happen, of course! Fortune's Double Yellow' is believed to be capable of breeding strong yellow offspring, and yet as far as we know it has not been well explored as a breeding plant. It is probably almost completely sterile as a seed bearer but its pollen is quite fertile.

I obtained about 21 seedlings from cross 47-06, none of which bloomed in their first year of growth, which was Summer of 2007. They were moved into gallon pots to mature for the following year. In 2008, three of these bloomed: one was a deep orange five-petaled flower with a dark rusty-red overlay, one was a very double ruffled hot pink 2" bloom and one was a very large medium pink Tea-shaped bloom on a vigorous plant which would obviously be a climber. In fact, that latter is proving to grow in very much the style of a Gigantea climber with classic Gigantea foliage and large, vigorous canes bearing a few hooked prickles. The rose illustrated here is that seedling. As you can see it holds it blooms in a pendant fashion, which is wholly appropriate for a climber that will present its blooms from several feet above the viewer's head.

Now, in Spring 2009, fourteen of the 47-06 group have bloomed and for the most part are quite disappointing. None has strong yellow coloring except the five-petaled orange-red one. Most are pinks with varying degrees of yellow, and a couple are phototropic, developing a red blush with age. I have pollinated a few of these, and used their pollen elsewhere, to determine if any are fertile. I believe 'Joycie' is a tetraploid, and 'Fortune's Double Yellow' being a diploid, these seedlings are likely triploids. (Although work David Zlesak and I did with the Moore Hybrid Bracteatas showed that seedlings of mixed ploidy crosses did not always have the ploidy expected of the cross) With any luck this big pink seedling will be fertile, as it would be fun to create some new Hybrid Gigantea climbers for mild climates.

I have documented the rest of these seedlings with photos and will show these in the next few days. I just need to make time to prepare the photos, but with the pollination season in full swing right now, that could be difficult! Stay tuned.

Black Tea, by Kanjiro Okamoto.

Just for the sake of publishing a nice image: 'Black Tea' bred by Kanjiro Okamoto of Japan, introduced into commerce in 1973. Its a Hybrid Tea, upright, stiff and rather awkward, with plenty of flesh-ripping thorns. Not a particularly good garden rose, it is grown for its Cinnamon/rust/Chocolate colored blooms which are notoriously difficult to photograph. (This photo doesn't quite get it right, but close) This is one of the so-called "brown" roses, an elite group that has become popular within certain circles in recent years. Click on the image to see a larger version.

This photo is specially for Carolyn Parker, whose photography is always inspirational. Check out her exquisite book entitled R is For Rose.

Coming soon: photos and description of one of my favorite selections from the cross of 'Joycie' X 'Fortune's Double Yellow' made in '06.

'Joycie' X 'Fortune's Yellow'

'Fortune's Double Yellow' is a very old Hybrid Gigantea brought from China circa 1845 by the explorer Robert Fortune. (One account documents its appearance in Europe under the name 'Rosa pseud-indica' pre-1820 when John Lindley included it under than name in his "Monograph of Roses" in 1820. It is entirely possible that it had been brought into European horticulture prior to Robert Fortune's introduction of it. We can never be certain of some of these details.) This is a very large climbing rose of massive stature. My first encounter with it was in Fresno, CA in 1999 where I found a specimen of it climbing a utility pole/fence where it had reached well over 25 feet tall and was at least 40 feet wide. It blooms in one brilliant display in the Spring, with masses of yellow/orange and pink tinted cupped blooms about 4" across. It has a very pleasant scent. This is a tender cultivar that doesn't take kindly to the cold, although I know people who grow it successfully as a modest sized shrub in zones as cold as USDA 6.

In a recent article entitled "Fun With Color: The Pigments in Rose Blossoms" by Don Holeman in the Rose Hybridizer's Association newsletter, Don painstakingly documents the floral color pigments in a number of well-known roses and provides some analysis of their meaning and potential in hybridizing. 'Fortune's Double Yellow' is mentioned in the article and the following statement is particularly interesting to me: "One source for a full compliment of yellow genes that don't derive from either 'Soleil d'Or' or 'Reve d'Or' is the Hybrid Gigantea 'Fortune's Double Yellow' ('Beauty of Glazenwood'). It also has a fair amount of cyanin and chrysanthemin to offer. Discovered in a garden in China, it has never been explored for breeding despite its fertile pollen."*

Until now, that is.

In 2006 I obtained pollen of 'Fortune's Double Yellow' from some friends in California (my plant was languishing in my open garden at the time; it has been rescued since) and I pollinated the orange miniature 'Joycie' with it. From these seeds I obtained 19 seedlings. None bloomed in their first year, which was no surprise. In Spring of 2008, three of these one year old plants flowered, sparingly; a very double Tea-like medium pink bloom about 1.5" across, a five-petaled deep orange with a yellow eye, and a large flowered deep pink that aged to a dusky lavender with greysih tints. None of these had significant fragrance. The large pink one was moved up into a five gallon can and grew like a proverbial weed, making a few 7 foot canes in one season. It is now poised to bloom, with clusters of buds at every node along the canes, just like its pollen parent 'Fortune's Double Yellow'.

Now, in April 2009, fifteen of these seedlings are set to flower. Some will bnear only one or two blooms and others have quite a few. Most of these will be blooming for the first time. The photo above depicts the buds of two of the first bloomers showing color through the sepals. These clearly have significant pigmentation, as predicted. While few, if any of these seedlings will have merit as a "finished product", I hope they have sufficient fertility to move ahead into a next generation of breeding. *crosses fingers* (This is an appealing idea since all of our modern yellow roses get their genes for yellow from R. foetida, a species that also contributed susceptibility to the fungal disease Blackspot. Perhaps this new avenue will help in overcoming some of the flaws in modern shrub roses?) Finally, after all these years, 'Fortune's Double Yellow' may get a chance to contribute its yellow genes to the breeding of a new race of richly colored hybrids.

*Rose Hybridizers Association Newsletter, Vol. XXXIX, No. 4, Winter 2008