I shovel pruned my ‘Crepuscule’ because it was in a really bad spot, it might come back from the roots but I thought I should just start fresh, even though it takes a while to acclimate itself. The spot just wasn’t good. I took cuttings so I might get rooted babies myself but looking at Chamblees catalog to get a young replacement just in case, and I’ve been distracted by the Buck roses. I’ve always been interested in the Buck roses but have never tried them before. Any notable Bucks to use for good shrubby round form or breed good apricot or yellow? I know Earth Song is supposed to be good but they’re not offering her this year.
Folksinger was pretty, but had severe mildew issues in the inland valley heat and at the foggy beach here. Gentle Persuasion was a beautiful shrub. I never raised anything from it, but it was a great garden plant. April Moon was great! The only seedling I raised from it I’ve kept is April Mooncrest, a cross between April Moon and MORcrest.
Winter sunset growing on campus, purportedly unsprayed, but irrigated, does very well despite out 100 + heat in summer. Best blooms in autumn going right up into hard freeze time, like now, or even later. OP seedlings have few petals, same color mostly, BS always. WS also gets BS in my infested set-up, but tolerates it. Got Gentle Persuasion just this year and it was very good. Rather similar to WS. No seeds germ yet to comment on progeny potential. Disease situation about like WS, some BS, but vigorous and free-blooming. Neither is yellow. My impression is that apricot is a real color, not a mix, unlike most shades of orange.
I haven’t tried any of those four but can weigh in on ‘Prairie Harvest’ and ‘Prairie Sunrise’ for our area.
‘Prairie Harvest’ wasn’t completely “bullet proof” but was definitely much better than average for health and toughness (grown with near complete neglect and no sprays or fertilizer).
We gave my wife’s grandmother ‘Prairie Sunrise’ one year for her birthday and it’s just beautiful. She’s up in PA but it has pretty much the same conditions as here. I’m not so sure that someone doesn’t dust her roses and I’m pretty sure they get fed. But even so, I think it would be worth your consideration.
We gave ‘Folksinger’ to my mother-in-law a few years back and it’s still alive but not impressing me much - although in it’s defense, there are a lot of trees shading it.
In general, from what I’ve seen of Buck roses of all colors, they’re mostly a bit above the average old HT and Floribunda for no-spray health and happiness here in Maryland.
I grow both Winter Sunset and April Moon. I think Winter Sunset has better color (bolder, richer) and better form. April Moon, on the other hand has better health and I think blooms more. Both produce nice hips. I used both this year and will be able to tell what I get from them next Spring (hopefully).
Winter Sunset has been very healthy here, and it has some very unique colors, even among non-shrubs. It grows like an elegant flori-tea type. Its majoc drawback is that the color bleaches in sun. This is a spring/autumn rose.
Folksinger can pass on wonderful traits.
Prairie Sunset, which has the color of Just Joey, has some of the most beautiful blooms Ive ever seen. It sets hips well. Im told that it produces mildew, but I have never seen this happen yet. However, I crossed it with all wichurana-derived types. It passes on its form and petal count dominantly.
Aunt Honey is the closest idea to the merger of a shrub and hybrid tea. It is a wonderful non-stop produce. The color is just a stardard pink, but its a great plant that sets hips easily.
Hawkeye Belle is … a failure
Summer Wind is the closest idea of a Buck polyantha. It makes HUGE sprays on a healthy, short plant. Theyre all in salmon pink, and it sets hips easily.
I was not impressed with April Moon. My impression is that it does better where it is dry. It was lanky and it hated rain, but I think those traits can be bred out easily.
Sevilliana is a wonderful rose. Its essentially a healthier Iceberg, but the color, if not for the stipples, is kind of boring. It was an excellent rose for breeding, and I got some of my best from it.
I’m growing Winter Sunset next to the Buck descendant Dakota’s Song, and it really isn’t doing too well in comparison. I might have dug it out. I have some Prairie Harvest out in the field and they are admirably clinging to life. They produce some really fat hips that are full of seeds. Prairie Sunrise has some ginormous blossoms in a nice apricot color. A rose that I’ve tentatively identified as Prairie Star does really well in my northern MN climate, similar in blossom form to Morden Blush, but much better in terms of the combination of hardiness and disease resistance. None of its seedlings have really been anything special so far, though.
I really like the Prairie Star flower form and color. But I’ve not had luck getting significant numbers of seeds from it. It is a spare grower/ bloomer, doing best in fall but rather subject to BS here, worse than Winter sunset. Not very vigorous plant either. I grafted one on Therese B decades back that did about the same as on the stock from the nursery. Now its own root in two locations, one a pot.
Received a cutting of Grace Note this Spring. This Fall it bloomed for the first time the bloom form is exquisite and the petals are stipled. It appears to be blackspot resistant in my garden. Can’t wait to use it this spring.
There is a wholesale grower who grows and sells Sevilliana here in SoCal as Red Iceberg. I did inquire about its’ real name and the grower ID’d it as Sevilliana, but it speaks to its’ reliability. When I asked why they did not market it under the real name he said that “red Iceberg” meant something whereas Sevilliana did not say anything to his buying public. I know what he means,but…
would that be Sevilliana (Buck’s) or Sevillana (Meilland’s). Sevillana (Meilland) seems to be closer to a red Iceberg to my eyes. I almost had a Sevilliana this year purchased from Burlington but was a bit disappointed to find out that she was really growing Sevillana. Too confusing to keep straight sometimes.
Andre-Yes you are right-it is the Meilland Sevillana I am thinking of. I’m not sure why I ususally think Buck when I see that rose- early imprinting or something. And yes it is a very orange red.
