The two Queen Elizabeth OP “twins” have finally shown who’s the better sister. One, the vigorous and taller one, has given me a wonderful pink bud and now a first bloom of SOFT baby pink, even lighter in color than it’s mother, which I am glad because I find the paler color prettier. The petals curve and flair out to a small point( is that what they call quilling?). It only has six petals and a very faint fragrance. I’m so pleased with it!
The seeds I’ve gotten from Henry Kuska have also done a few things I’m happy to say!
((William Baffin X OP) X OP) X OP seeds have proven to readily germinate, in fact I’ve had over ten or more seeds germinate from Henry’s seeds. Unfortunately the seedlings have also proven to be rather weak and most have died on their own.
(Hansa X (Therese Bugnet X OP) X OP) X OP, on the other hand, has proven to be VERY stubborn to germinate, only two have done so. However, the seedlings are very vigorous and one is sending out it’s tiny first leaves already!
So thank you Henry, you’ve given me some different seeds with different temperaments to work with, I’m really ecstatic.
I’ll post pictures of my first bloom and the seedlings soon in this thread.
Thank you Jadae. I think many people would consider the Elizabeth seedling to be rather unremarkable, but I find it’s pearly white-blushing to be very pretty.
Dainty Bess is one of the longest running HT’s in shows ever. People still buy it.
I actually really like pale pink blooms. And you may find with subsequent blooming that the flowers start having more petals! I can’t tell if it’s the light, but the second picture looks like it has a bit of yellowish color on the reverse.
I know you’ve said before you only have room for a few rose bushes outside, would you like me to send you some hips in the mail this fall?
I love pale pink too.
and Amber that would be awfully kind of you.
Congrats, Max!
You may need some patience with the Hansa/therese Bugnet seedlings. The Rugosa hybrids tend to want a longer stratification period. Of course, no telling what else in in their lines…
(If you’re like me, your luck will have the things sprouting at a horribly inopportune time!)
Max, it’s no problem. I started growing roses before I got interested in breeding them, and for whatever reason I inadvertantly selected a lot of very fertile varities. So in the fall if I haven’t been dead heading too much I have a bumper crop of OP hips.