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:

58-06-07/05: the "Brown Sisters"

Breeding: 1-72-1 (Moore, 1972, sister seedling to 'Rise 'N' Shine') X 'Hot Cocoa'.

The seedling at top is 58-06-05, the lower photo is of its sister, 58-06-07. There were other selections from this cross back in '07, but they were discarded for various reasons. (I seem to recall the others were rather ordinary oranges and soft yellows; nothing remarkable) These two were kept for their remarkable coloring, the first one being the most dramatic of the two, as you can see. It is very difficult to capture the color of either with a camera, but these photos come close to being accurate. If you are familiar with the old Floribunda 'Jocelyn', or Sam McGredy's 'Brown Velvet', then you have some idea how these two look.

58-06-07 (the second one) has very shapely flowers very reminiscent of its seed parent. 1-72-1 often breeds bloom form like this, which is why Moore liked working with it so much. (That and the fact that it often breeds good, strong colors) I'm not sure about the future of 58-06-07 though, since it doesn't produce quite enough volume of bloom, tending to produce one or two blooms at the end of a shoot. That ain't a trait I like to see in my work, so I may try it as a breeder and just leave it on the bench for a while.

The other one, the richly colored 58-06-05, is a much more generous bloomer, producing most of its bloom in clusters of three or more, and quite a lot of them too. Like its sister, it is a tallish, upright grower, although it is well branched, eventually forming a pillar-shaped bush to about 4 or 5 feet tall. No doubt it could be trained into a bushier form, if you wanted to.

This year, I have decided to submit this variety to Rogue Valley Roses to auction off the naming rights. If it works out, I will likely select a new seedling every year to auction off. Rogue Valley doesn't yet have any information on their site to announce the details of this offer, but I expect it will be coming quite soon. I'll let you know more about it when it happens.

Beautiful Losers

Seedling # 03-06-07: 'Hot Cocoa' X 'Dragon's Blood'. Few seeds from this cross germinated, and this is the sole survivor of the lot.

I can't quite make the photograph reflect the subtleties of hue that the bloom actually possesses; its not just a red, its that odd shade of Chinese red with an overlay of "smoke bush" purple that several of the "brown" roses has. Not even Photoshop can tweak it to accuracy. Oh well.

So, why the title of this post? Because I have been watching this seedling for three years now (pollinated in 2006, germinated in April of 2007) and I've been hoping it might eventually show some vigor and enthusiasm. It hasn't. It has never exceeded 18" tall and prefers to flower rather than build infrastructure. It also tends to die back rather badly even in our mild winters. I can just hear what you're thinking: maybe it just needs to be budded onto stronger roots? Well, yes....odds are that would improve its performance, but Since the rose industry is in such trouble now, I am insisting that any of my selections have to prosper on their own roots. Bud grafting just isn't an option anymore. Distribution of new cultivars may soon be the job of the many small "boutique" and home-grown nurseries, and few (if any) of those nurseries are going to have the ability or the willpower to propagate by bud grafting; it will all fall to propagation by cuttings. I need to pay attention to that, and assume that is where the future of commercial roses lies.

Anyway, it is a remarkable flower when it is doing well, with its 'Pat Austin' shaped cupped blooms and its muted cinnabar hued petals. Its just a shame the damn thing doesn't grow worth a hoot. Maybe it has something to offer as a pollen parent, maybe I'll give that a try next Spring.

Searching for better shrub architecture: 119-06-01

As the years go by and my experience with rose breeding accumulates, I have come to really appreciate the sage advice of Ralph Moore, who said to me: make the plant first and then hang the flowers on it. When Ralph said this, I suddenly realized how many roses in commerce are all about the flower and not about the architecture of the shrub. I don't know many Hybrid Teas that make good landscape shrubs. They're bred to produce cut flowers: solitary blooms on top of tall straight stems. That doesn't exactly add up to being a good shrub for the landscape. With this philosophy in mind, I have sought more and more to breed for attractive shrub growth habits. The native American species are beginning to play a role in this pursuit now, as are some of the Rugosas and some of my proprietary hybrids.

I recently mentioned 174-02-17, one of my Hybrid Bracteatas that I use for breeding. It isn't a very attractive shrub in itself, with its wild, wiry horizontal growth and somewhat sparse foliage and small blooms. But it does breed some very good things, particularly attractive shrub architecture. The seedling pictured above is one of the best offspring I have obtained from 174-02-17. ('Hot Cocoa' was the pollen parent) 119-06-01 is the only seedling I got from this cross, and its quite remarkable. At two years of age now, it has built into a very full 3 foot wide shrub with excellent form. The plant is densely foliated with dark glossy leaves and the plant is full right down to ground level. No bare knees on this rose! New basal shoots tend to be quite horizontal, a trait from the Bracteata parent, and they grow more upright as they develop. This makes for a very well rounded plant outline. Blooms are 3" in diameter and quite full, globe shaped. The petals drop cleanly, and there is a pleasant "modern rose" scent. The soft orange blooms are produced in clusters of three to 25, opening sequentially over a long period. Happily, this cultivar is easily propagated from semi-hardwood cuttings.

For me, this represents a nearly ideal shrub in terms of its architecture, bloom presentation and overall effect. I am now using 174-02-17 (its seed parent) extensively in breeding to further explore its capabilities. Funny how you can ignore a seedling for years and not consider its potential as a parent. It just goes to show you that its smart to try out many of your seedlings as parents before you dismiss them as "near misses".

Bracteata line breeding.

It seems to me that line breeding is rarely pursued in the breeding of roses. In part, I expect this is because undesirable recessives start to show up and loss of hybrid vigor becomes an issue as well. Still, many of the Canadian Explorer roses rely heavily on line breeding, making extensive use of the 'Red Dawn' X 'Suzanne' line and the 'Kordesii' line, and with great success.

Well, I have been working with the Moore line of Hybrid Bracteatas for several years now and it has become very clear that the biggest battle with these is getting decent color out of them. Ralph Moore's most attractive hybrid of the group (for me) is 'Out of Yesteryear', whose parentage is 'Sequoia Gold' X 'Muriel'. 'Muriel' is Moore's first successful cross using R. bracteata (crossed with 'Guinee') that was fully fertile and able to carry forward the line. 'Muriel' is a tetraploid, as is 'Sequoia Gold', but when these two were crossed, 'Out of Yesteryear' resulted and it turned out to be a triploid! How two tetraploids mated to produce a triploid is a bit of a mystery, but there you have it. Even more interesting, 'Out of Yesteryear' is a fully fertile triploid, contrary to the mytholgy of triploids being infertile. You can use its pollen on pretty much anything and get loads of seedlings from it.

I've done plenty of crosses with 'Out of Yesteryear' over the years and there are some excellent traits it passes on, and some not so great ones. Its offsrping tend to have excellent vigor, beautiful foliage and often very beautiful blooms packed with petals. Many are often fragrant as well. However, seedlings can be very thorny, the petal texture too thin and rarely do you get anything with strong coloring. Many seedlings are just white. So when I get a seedling that has decent color, I'm inclined to explore it as a stepping stone towards Bracteata hybrids with good color, which leads me to these two.

174-02-17 = 'Sheri Anne' X 'Out of Yesteryear'. One of its siblings tested as a tetraploid and I suspect this is also. It is a thorny plant that is more horizontal than vertical, with smallish glossy foliage. It blooms at many nodes along the previous season's canes and can bloom in large clusters sometimes. Blooms have a vaguely HT shape when in bud (see photo) but open to a flat 2.5 inch shape. Color is a medium red in bud, fading to a pale red/pink. It sets seed with most any pollen, but seed fertility is low at about 10-20%. However, when it does produce seedlings, a high percentage of them has something about them that warrants further evaluation. Offspring tend to bloom in big clusters with compact, graceful architecture and good color. One of my favorite new shrubs came from a cross of 174-02-17 X 'Hot Cocoa'. (More about this soon)

33-03-03 = 'Twilight Skies' X 'Muriel'. Why, you might ask, did I select the mauve miniature 'Twilight Skies' as the parent for this cross? Because it was there! I had grown it for two years when it was new and it set seed readily, bloomed like mad, so I thought why not? It was untested and might have qualities that would make it worthwhile as a parent. The seedlings from this group were mostly lavender/pinks with one coral colored one in the mix. Several were grown for two years and all but 33-03-03 were discarded for poor vigor or unattractive blooms. 33-03-03 is a semi-climbing plant with dark green glossy foliage and 2.5" medium red blooms that fade to a reddish pink with age, about 25 petals, cupped in form. It blooms in clusters all along the arching canes, repeating in flushes through the year. David Zlesak kindly did ploidy tests on some of my Bracteata seedlings for an article we were co-authoring*, a few years back and it turns out that 33-03-03 is a tetraploid. It is fertile in both directions and should be compatible with most other tetraploids.

174-02-17 and 33-03-03 happen to be growing side by side in one of the greenhouses, both descended from R. bracteata through 'Muriel', and both were selected for their relatively strong coloring. Yet it never occurred to me to cross the two together....until now. The idea (and hope) here is that some of the more interesting Bracteata traits might be reenforced while retaining the vigor, repeat blooming habit and red coloring of each. Anything could happen of course. I might end up with a load of diseased seedlings with no vigor and no rebloom. Its possible the seeds might not even germinate, assuming I get seeds at all! We shall see.

*See: Bracteata Gene Counts Article

Since we're on the topic of miniatures....

I thought I'd show you a new mini: 58-06-05. This came out of a 2006 cross of Ralph Moore's famous yellow breeder 1-72-1 crosses with 'Hot Cocoa' by Tom Carruth. Only in my wildest dreams did I imagine a miniature with this color intensity would be possible. Now, to be honest, the plant lacks grace (grown in the greenhouse so far, it might look better when moved outside into the open) and the foliage is a bit sparse for my liking. But this is potentially a useful exhibition style variety, since it makes plenty of one-to-a-stem blooms that present well. This seedling also propagates rediculously easily from cuttings.

The photo doesn't do it justice, really; the petal texture is more velvety in reality and the color is deeper, richer, more luminous. Its a real "Jocelyn brown" color. Very "oxblood'. I'll be moving this seedling (and its sibling which is similar, but with better foliage and architecture) outdoors soon so I can see how it behaves in the garden. With any luck the plant will take on a more attractive growth habit and the foliage will improve.