Paul Barden bred a small group of roses named after various USA atomic weapons tests to emphasize the fact that these particular cultivars are highly resistant to Diplocarpon rosa (Blackspot Disease). Of these I grew Castle Bravo, Cannikin and Diablo Hawk. The only other one I know of is Dakota Redwing which I was never able to get a copy of. It had gone to Rogue Valley Roses for commercialization but, at least as late as 2015, had not been released.
I happened to be looking for a copy of another rose today, Ollie Weeks’ Paradise, and noticed that Dakota Redwing is now on offer at Rogue Valley Roses. I am no longer actively breeding roses but I mention this in the hope that someone here will get a copy of Dakota Redwing and carry on with it.
Could you share your experience with the others as parents?
Summarily, with the caveat that I don’t have any derivatives of them for reasons having nothing to do with them, per se.
In my hands Cannikin was the most productive, mostly because it grew well for me and is a prolific bloomer. It takes pollen from a lot of different things but likes Moore, Barden and Rupert roses in particular. It took moyesii and Flower Carpet Red, a hulthemia or two, virginiana and even from an f1 roxburghii.
The other two were not as bountiful bloomers as was Cannikin, at least for me, though both were quite fertile both ways.
The bloom form of these three is quite full with lots of petal substance and very, very dense pigmentation which makes for a lot of potential. Their architecture and armor (ouch!) need a lot of refinement but that should be no surprise. The trick is to carry along the blackspot resistance with the refinement.
So is your facebook page the one with the post about honeyberries? If so I just bought a mated pair yesterday, Blue Moon and Blue Velvet. Have you grown these?
Yes. That is my Facebook page. The ones I currently have are Berry Blue, Borealis, Cinderella, and Indigo Gem. I just put them in last year, so they’re not producing yet. They came through our relatively mild winter here in NE Ohio and look to be in good shape.
I’ve had Dakota Redwing for a couple of years now. I used it last year as a seed parent. It set good full hips and so far I’ve got good germination. Waiting on first blooms now. Sadly I won’t be using it this spring as my plant is in our local community garden and I’m avoiding going during the current pandemic crisis here. Stay safe and enjoy your roses everyone.
‘Dakota Redwing’ is a cross of ‘Brown Velvet’ and ‘Midnight Blue’. While it may indeed have virtues worth exploring in further hybridizing, disease resistance is not one of them.
Thanks!
Don’t get me wrong, its a nice enough rose. Its just not going to advance efforts to enhance Blackspot resistance. Its got fantastic color (photos don’t do it justice) and nice scent, but its also a rather large, open shrub that tends to produce fairly small blooms for its size. I don’t believe I ever used it for breeding, but given its pedigree, it might be a useful tool for enhancing rich colors in subsequent generations. Crossing it with something more compact and with better Blackspot resistance might be the best approach.
