44-09-13

44-09-13 = (R. foliolosa X 'Little Chief') X 'Therese Bugnet'

This is the first of this group of seedlings to bloom. Hardly an exciting flower, really, but not a surprising result, really, considering how significant a role R. rugosa plays in its pedigree. The fragrance, in fact, is pure Rugosa: richly Clove-like. The foliage is pure 'Therese Bugnet'; ferny, with narrow leaflets, and that odd matte texture. The foliage has been impermeable to the standard diseases so far, but testing in earnest for Blackspot won't happen till the selections are planted out in the open garden.

For now, I am collecting pollen from some of these selections to test as breeders. I don't consider these individuals as "finished" works, but as potential stepping stones towards improved cold climate-friendly plants.

You can view info about the seed parent here.

26-09-14, a few days later.

For a rose hybridizer, that sudden rush of seedlings flowering for the first time is a lot like Christmas: each one a gift that nobody has ever seen before, the product of much patience and tender cultivation. Such anticipation. Except its a kind if alternate reality Christmas where Tim Burton has made the rules: most of the presents are lumps of coal, with the occasional utilitarian pair of socks in grey or white. Nothing offensive, nothing exciting......and so many lumps of coal. We all aim, us hybridizers, to create diamonds. Lots of 'em. But the reality is that most of what we get is dull chunks of carbon by the bushel. So be it. The diamonds do appear, if only rarely.

A couple of days ago I posted a photo of a bud of a 'Hansa' hybrid I had been anticipating. This is what I got:

A throwback to its species origin. Ah well. Perhaps it has a trick or two up its sleeve yet. After all, genetically it has an infusion on both sides of its ancestry of non-Rugosa genes. It might look like an ordinary R. rugosa, but what about its genotype? Maybe it will breed something more interesting. Maybe its not a lump of coal at all, maybe it is a sock after all: a sock with a purpose.

Pursuing better foliage: the Canadian Explorers

In the past few years I have discovered that both good reds and glossy, Blackspot resistant foliage can be had when using 'Scarlet Moss' in breeding. The seedling shown here is 'Scarlet Moss' X 'William Baffin' from last year's seedlings. Working with 'William Baffin' is a bit more of a waiting game than usual, as its seedlings often don't start to flower until year two. (L83 seedlings behave this way also, which is not really much of a coincidence since the Explorers come from similar genetic backgrounds: heavy R. rugosa influence) I have loads of seedlings from last season that I hope to see flower for the first time in the next couple of months.

I am hoping that a few of the 'William Baffin' seedlings show excellent disease resistance, strong red coloring and very good Winter hardiness. This particular cross "feels right" to me, bringing together one of the best of the Explorers and one of the best Moore roses with heavy 'Dortmund' influence. Photos of the blooms will follow, when it happens.

I close my eyes and all I see is seeds and more seeds.

I've been spending several hours a day for two weeks now, cleaning and prepping seeds for sowing. I'm starting to dream about cleaning rose seeds!

I have a self-seedling from the Hybrid Rugosa 'Schneezwerg' that I have occasionally used in breeding. It is a compact shrubby plant that closely resembles R. rugosa alba, but more shapely and restrained in growth. 'Schneezwerg' is supposedly R. rugosa X R. beggeriana. The seeds pictured here are a cross of the 'Schneezwerg' F2 X Ralph Moore's "Magseed", and so R. rugosa is represented on both sides of the equation. The idea here is to generate a Rugosa-like shrub with large blooms in a red hue, hopefully with improved repeat and some fragrance.

As a side note, I sorted several seed lots of various crosses in which 'Schneezwerg' served as the seed parent, and curiously, the seed size varied considerably depending on what the other parent was!

Basye's Amphidiploid

Many years ago someone sent me a few open pollinated seeds from Dr. Robert Basye's 'Basye's Amphidiploid', from which I obtained three seedlings. Two are large Spring-blooming shrubs with terrific vigor and complete immunity to disease. (the larger of these two is pictured above) The third is a short plant to 24" tall and blooms on and off all through the growing season. It too is immune to disease, but is a rather runty plant that lacks vigor. I have used their pollen occaionally on a few things here and there but rarely with any concentrated effort. This year I am making a bigger effort, since they probably have the ability to further the goal of disease proof roses of the future. I am assuming these seedlings are tetraploids and so I am using L83 and 'Basye's Blueberry' on them. When my 'Commander Gillette' blooms in a week or so, I will use its pollen as well.

What follows is a bit long, but well worth the read, in my opinion. Dr. Basye specifically mentioned 'Commander Gillette' in reference to working with the Amphidiploid with the goal of Blackspot immunity in mind. The following is a quote from an article written by Dr. Basye in the 1980's.

"May I outline just one plan of attack which I would consider if I were that young rose breeder? I would consider starting with a nucleus of three tetraploids: 'Commander Gillette, and the two amphidiploids, 67-305 and R. kordesii. These three stud roses carry genes of the four species carolina, rugosa, abyssinica and wichuraiana, all of which are highly resistant to Blackspot. And 'Commander Gillette' has the potential of removing the thorns."

"We would begin by crossing the two amphidiploids and growing a population of F1 seedlings. We would expect no great variation here in Blackspot resistance, but if there should be, let us select the best ones for selfing. In each of the resulting F2 generations of selfs we have a segregation of characters and thus a better chance of variation in Blackspot resistance. Again we select from each F2 the plants with the highest resistance. Let A designate this final group of plants of highest resistance. We would hope that their resistance equals or excels that of the two amphidiploids. In any case, we now have plants that carry genes of rugosa, abyssinica and wichuraiana. "

"It remains to introduce the fourth species, R. carolina, and take the first step in the thorn problem. 'Commander Gillette' is ideally equipped for this. I mentioned in a 1985 article that the cross 67-305 X 'Commander Gillette' produced a rose, 77-361, which was free of thorns and bristles and had perfectly smooth midribs of the leaves. Recently, I repeated this cross and confirmed this possibility. But before making the cross Ai X 'Commander Gillette', where Ai denotes a member of the group A, we first make a cosmetic change in 'Commander Gillette'."

" 'Commander Gillette' itself is free of thorns and bristles and has smooth midribs. Among the selfs, however, the bristles will often appear; also a rare thorn or a slight roughness on the midribs. Those recessives are easily bred out by several successive selfings. The criterion for success in such a self is that one further selfing produces a population completely free of the undesirables. One reason I have not done this before in my other breeding work is that it can lead to the loss of other recessives that are desirable. For example, 'Commander Gillette' contains a latent gene for recurrency which might be lost. I nevertheless recommend the cosmetic change for the labor saving dividends it will pay down the road - not a small item."

"We return now to the crosses of the type Ai X 'Commander Gillette' where Ai denotes a member of the group A, and 'Commander Gillette' has been subjected to the cosmetic change described. A small percentage of the seedlings of this cross should be free of thorns, bristles and roughness on the midribs. Several successive selfings of each of these should produce one or more plants homozygous with respect to each of the three traits. We repeat this routine for each member of group A. All the roses so obtained form a group B. Our final group G comes from selecting from B the plants with outstanding resistance to Blackspot."

"To further reduce the labor of the operation just described, it might be best to use the reverse crosses, 'Commander Gillette' X Ai, and mix the pollens of Ai."

"Of the group G we can that each rose it it has high resistance to Blackspot, is homozygous with respect to freedom from thorns, bristles and roughness of the midribs, and, last but not least, carries genes of four of nature's noblest roses."

Since it appears that my F2 seedlings from the Amphidiploid already have superior resistance (immunity?) to Blackspot. I am going to go ahead and pollinate all three with L83, rather than R. kordesii, since L83 is essentially a derivitive from R. kordesii with superior disease resistance and improved Winter hardiness. While this does not follow the Basye plan exactly, it does employ some of the same materials. As I say, when 'Commander Gilette' blooms in another week or so, I will include it in the crosses I make, bearing in mind Dr. Basye's outline for obtaining a superior race of disease resistant roses. If I can obtain germplasm that is capable of furthering the goal of Blackspot immunity in roses, I will be more than pleased. Its well past time we had a group of roses that could be grown without "life support" and which have better architecture and Winter hardiness, making them better shrubs for integration into a garden landscape.

Final note: I will make pollen of my Amphidiploid F2 seedlings available to anyone (in North America) who wants to experiment with them.