Kim, I was thinking the same thing! ROFLOL
Jim
Seedlings keep on popping up here!! I think that the extra month in the fridge was a good thing. The good summer probably did not hurt either…
Prairie Celebration seems to be a good seed parent for me. It is a L83 seedling that I can not say enough good things about. I can not wait to see what the seedlings look like.
I had a Pretty Lady x John Cabot seedling pop through the other day and this morning a Outta the Blue x John Cabot. The dumped seedling flat has started germinating again and the 11 seedlings that I rescued out of the mess on the floor seemed to be doing fine.
I just noticed a small bud on a Jens Munk self x 3F Calocarpa seedling. I can’t believe I got a juvenile bud on a rugosa hybrid! The cross itself was an afterthought.
I can believe it w/ that cross, especially with it being 1/4 “China”. I actually have wanted to try Calocarpa because of both the diploid repeating, branching and lack of anthocyanins that chinas tend to bring into the picture. The obviously con with china/rugosa is the loss of generalized hardiness and likely dislike of being pruned. I like the cross idea a lot, though. Jens Munk is definitely my favorite of the more pure rugosa types. The lineage says that the china parent is a form of chinensis, which makes me wonder if its Old Blush. The foliage definitely says china influence, but who knows of what kind and how much.
The Solitaire seedlings are all miniature so far, which makes it seem as if (Livin Easy x Baby Love) won the pollen race – at least to this point. I am kind of surprised at a higher mini count this far away from Sweet Magic. I usually get more large than mini roses from Baby Love. The pollen parent is patio sized and deep orange, like that of Spanish Sunset. Oh well, I didnt really want minis, but Solitaire can produce nice minis regardless 
Today:
Ebb Tide x Night Owl
Illusion x Midnight Blue
Have buds on 2-3" plants of Ebb Tide x Midnight Blue, Mariotta x Mariotta and Westerland x (Golden Angel x L83).
I cant wait to see 
I like the idea of line breeding the purples, especially with climbing bits. I dumped Night Owl, despite the nice color and foliage, because it had awful repeat and awful vigor. However, it has breeding potential. It needs vigor, repeat and a touch something extra to take it that extra mile. Candy Land, which is from that same line (Rosy Outlook, which I assume is from Roller Coaster) that gives Night Owl the climbing habit, is a touch better in the climbing vigor department, but not by much. The rebloom is superior though. I do not think I would have got decent climbing seedlings from Candy Land had I not married it to the Cl
I’m hoping that Illusion does do that for me Michael. Hopefully married with MB will bring deep red, purple and/or mauve…I’m sure pink will also be present.
I made an error on the Ebb Tide x Night Owl listing above. It’s actually ET x Rhapsody in Blue. I do have some crosses that have germinated that have Night Owl as a parent but this one is RinB as pollen parent.
Ah, okay. BTW, some of the RiB line are not fainting in the summer like RiB does even here in Oregon, so that is good news.
re: calos
My Calocarpa descendents are tip hardy here, and very vigorous, but I’ve never been been able to get reblooms on any of the offspring with rugosa crosses.
I’m glad to hear that Michael. I did order Wild Rover, a RiB descendant, for spring and hear that it has good health and is fertile either way…and produces purples.
A cross that I am really excited about just started to germinate: (Alberta x John Cabot) x Prairie Celebration. I can not wait to see what these seedlings have to offer.
I think John Cabot has a lot of potential. Even though the blooms are “meh”, the plant is really pretty as a pillared shrub to 4-5’ if pruned down in the dormant season.
‘Wild Rover’ also produces dark orchre/oranges and… I have one ‘Wild Rover’ x ‘Mutabilis’ seedling that has just flowered with a lovely single, frangipani-like, flower in a light pinky-white suffused with yellow I have found OP ‘Wild Rover’ flowers burn to a crisp in hot Australian summers. The WR planned crosses didn’t burn quite so badly as the selfs do. WR makes some climbers. The selfs are very dark orange/purple (if that makes sense) singles. Expect a lot of singles with WR and also don’t be surprised if they take a while to start flowering. Some of my OP WR seedlings took 3 years to flower and when they started they kept going. Not a lot of keepers in the OP batch from a few years back. Good at breeding lovely blousy informal flowers. Not for those who like classically high-centred form.
Simon,
Oranges and dark orange/purple is also good for me. Mabye with the right partner some russets could be obtained?
I have found OP ‘Wild Rover’ flowers burn to a crisp in hot Australian summers.
Is that because of the coloring of the seedlings?
Singles will get tossed unless the color is outstanding. If some of the OP seedlings take 3 years to bloom I may stay away from OP and use her stickly in planned crosses. Thanks for relaying your experiences.
Rob
Rob, I think it’s a combination of a few things to be honest. The singles are very dark and so, at a guess, they are acting like a heat-synch here so burn. The petal substance is also a bit on the thin side. When put with other pollens (like ‘Edd Tide’ the petal substances improves and they are affected less by the sun/heat.
This is one of the OP WR seedlings to give you an idea of the orange/purple colour I’m trying to describe and the darkness:
Smouldering, Simon!
Pretty
oh WOW Simon! I want one of those…
I’m actually going to shovel this one…
I like the color on that one Simon…why are you going to shovel prune it?