This is the first time I have seen my R. roxburghii normalis produce seeds, so I have gathered what hips I could find and taken out the seeds. Have any of you germinated roxburghii seed, and if so, were there any special tricks to doing it? Thanks.
Oh, and if anyone wants to try these themselves, I have enough to share a few seeds with a couple people.
Paul B.
Did it 3 times.
No problem with a january sowing and natural stratification.
Thank you Pierre!
I got a germination of R. roxburghii normalis 2 years ago, but it didn’t survive because it got backed (It germinated in the middle of July).
I gave the rest to Don.
This year, I got a flower of the normalis (the only one this year) from a week a nd a half ago and I’ve pollinated with Living Easy.
I wonder if I will have any luck… 6 pollinations today.
There is no other roses I can pollinate right now, so that maybe the only time I can use R. roxburghii normalis’ pollen.
Just checked my notes on these. In 27 seeds there were only four that had viable embryos, the rest were dead. Of these four, only one germinated and was potted up. I’m not sure whether it is still alive although I seem to recall seeing it last week when I was sorting through seedling cups. I checked just now and it’s not in the discard pile but I’ll need to check in the daylight to see if it’s still in the watering trays.
I do have a fe seeds out of roxburghii crossings from early june this year.
The hips already fell off, so I think of sowing them immediately.
If something germinates, I will get it through inside.
If not, maybe next year it will germinate.
What do you think of that idea?
Grx!
Arno
Mine germinate like weeds!
So lets make weed! 
I tried crossing R. roxburghii normalis with a couple of tea roses last year. It was very successful as a seed parent, but a failure as a pollen parent. Here are the current stats from those crosses. I wouldn’t be surprised if these crosses produced a few more seedlings this year.
R. roxburghii normalis X Mons. Tillier
11 pollinations
11 hips
200 seeds
141 germinations
70.5% germination
R. roxburghii normalis X Gilbert Nabonnand
1 pollination
1 hip
25 seeds
19 germinations
76.0% germination
Mons. Tillier X R. roxburghii normalis
32 pollinations
0 hips
Gilbert Nabonnand X R. roxburghii normalis
1 pollination
0 hips
The first dozen seedlings of R. roxburghii normalis X Mons. Tillier are now in one gallon pots and are producing leaves with 7 leaflets. R. rox. leaves typically have 9 or more leaflets; Mons. Tillier leaves typically have 5 leaflets. Most of the seedlings have glossier leaves than R. rox. They are all healthy so far, but it is really too soon to judge their health. Here are a couple of them:
I think you were wiser than I and used Rosa roxburghii normalis with diploids. I used it as pollen only, which was fine, but entirely with tetraploids. That led to either death @ 1 month after germination or sterile clones of the seed parent. I would have been wiser to have used something like, during those 2 years, Carefree Marvel.
Keep us updated, por favor. They look pretty fun.
Jim, that is great! Well done!
Thanks! I noticed another characteristic that many of the seedlings apparently inherited from Mons. Tillier. The pair of leaflets closest to the stem point back towards the stem. In R. rox., that pair of leaflets tend to point straight out from the petiole. Also, some of the seedlings have leaflets that vary more in size within a leaf than typical R. rox. leaflets do, more like Mons. Tillier leaflets. The seedling to the left in the photo is a good example of this.
For the last 3 years I have used pollen from R. Roxburghii Plena. It is a rose which does’nt really give you much in pollen, but my determination had the best of me, so far I have’nt had any stick yet, but every year I give it an other go. I am getting in a Tea which is extremely fertile, so this maybe the road to go down.
This is a cross which I am yearning for, and if it ever happens will produce something extraordinary.
Warren,
Use normalis or hirtula.
I agree with Jadae, and try it as a seed parent. I’ve used normalis in crosses since 2006, but mostly as a pollen parent and had very little success. I’m surprised at how well it did last year as a seed parent. Maybe the plant needed to be more mature to set hips well. I’ll definitely be trying pollen from a variety of diploids on it this year, maybe pollen from triploids and tetraploids too.
This week I saw the first few germinations of 0-47-19 X R. roxburghii normalis. 0-47-19 = R. wichurana X ‘Floradora’, so this is an experiment to see what happens when introducing 0-47-19 to a variety of one of its grandparents.
Please keep us posted on those seedlings, Paul. It will be interesting to see how they turn out.
Very good, mine still are being stratified.
Grx!
Arno
Speaking of Floradora, has anyone ever used Cinnabar or its close relations? It seems from experience that these orange red Poly/FL/Species types and their descendants are great for dwarfing giants without much hinderence to vigor or hardiness. I am assuming thats why Summer Wind (Buck) is more compact and everblooming than other Buck types, since it has Florence Mary Morse in it, which is another one of the other early orange-red poly hybrids.
Has anyone ever tried one of the early orange-red poly hybrids other than Floradora? If so, what are your impressions?
Michael, if rust is an issue where you are, avoiding Cinnabar, Independence, Geranium Red and their ilk is a good idea. Floradora gets a good dose of it here, which is probably why Queen Elizabeth is so prone to it many years. I didn’t experience rust on Summer Wind when I had it but that was in a more arid climate than here. The rust award went to Wandrin Wind, a rose which is as addicted to rust in milder climates as Conrad Ferdinand Meyer! Kim