85-05-21 revisited

I was sorting through my 2009 photo library and ran across this seedling photo (and many others!) I thought worth sharing.

This is a cross of 'Yellow Charles Austin' X 'Out of Yesteryear'. 2005 was the last time I used 'Out of Yesteryear' as a parent, simply because I had seedlings from the Bracteata line I felt had moved more in the direction I wanted to go. (The problem with using 'Out of Yesteryear' as a parent is that it rarely breeds strong colors. Most seedlings will be off whites, as seen here)

85-05-21 is one of the better Bracteata hybrids I have produced: it has a compact, full shrub growth habit (it appears to remain about 2 X 2 feet), attractive bloom form and a very strong, rich scent. Unfortunately it also has another trait that is far less desirable: it doesn't propagate easily from cuttings, and so I regard this as a "near miss", unlikely to appear in commerce. I may distribute this to a few friends in the business to see if they can do any better than I was able to in propagating it. Perhaps its something about my climate it doesn't respond well to.

Merry Christmas, folks.

Best wishes for a warm safe and enjoyable day with friends.

New intro for 2010

I have a new variety being introduced by Rogue Valley Roses for 2010. It is a large shrub/climber called 'Janet Inada'. Take a look at it on the RVR web site: 'Janet Inada' for more information.

27-07-16

NOTE: I made an error when listing the parentage of this rose, see revised parentage below.

This is beginning to impress me in its second year. 'Midnight Blue' X 'Lilian Austin'. Very intensely scented.

Fall color.

A few days ago I snapped a few informal pics of the Fall foliage colors on some of my L83 hybrids. Then last night a friend sent me photos of some of his R. rugosa Fall foliage, and those were quite spectacular. So, that prompted me this morning to collect a few nice leaves and take them into the "studio" and do proper pics.

The first image shows a group of L83 seedlings, several of which displayed very rich yellow coloring, and a few had good reds as well.

The second image is a selection of leaves from R. carolina, which typically puts on a brilliant Fall display. The one leaf at lower right in the. R. carolina image is a first generation R. foliolosa hybrid (R. foliolosa X 'Little Chief', in fact) and this cultivar always produces great Fall color.

Normally my plants of the F2 'Basye's Amphidiploid' hybrid produce excellent Fall color also, but this year they haven't done as well. Most of the garden is not coloring particularly well, in fact, likely because we have had only one mild frost so far.

I think that breeding for the feature of good Fall coloring in rose foliage is worthwhile and generally overlooked entirely. Don't you agree? ;-)

On vacation.

I have decided for a variety of reasons to take a vacation from participating in all of my Web activities, and that will include this blog, which is now pretty much my sole venue for news and discussion about what I do. I need a little bit of a mental health break: sometimes the Web can be a very taxing place. In the meantime, take care and enjoy the Fall weather. :-)