Does anyone still use Blue Girl? I have searched and speculated many a mauve HT/GR. To be honest, most of them are not that great. Does anyone know how well this oldie works? It still looks great in the garden and performs similarly (and sometimes better than) many mauves. I had good luck with Lagerfeld except that the petals come out paper thin. It seems to be quite dominant and it is extremely evident here in the PNW where paper-thin petals become mush within hours. So uhm… does anyone know the dominant tendencies when using this rose in breeding?
I haven’t used mauve roses in my breeding program, but I do know that mauve roses seemed to have either very thin or very thick petals. But I’ve only used Love Potion and Fragrant Plum (as seed parents).
The thin petals were the most fragrant too.
Last year I kept two seedlings of Cologne X Constance Spry. One is a repeat bloomer (but not very strong) and other is once blooming.
Both have thin petals, but extraordinarily strong mhyrr fragrances.
Both are a lovely shade of pale mauve. I expect they will do a whole lot better once they don’t have to compete for food, water, and sun.
Which “Blue Girl” are you talking about? Mainzer Fastnacht, or Cologne Carnival (K
Yes, in fact my first registered rose to be offered for sale, Desert Magic, is a seedling of Sonia x Blue Girl (see link). She is a constant bloomer even thru the 100+ temps here in the desert, and her petals and leaves do not fry in the heat. Not as fragrant as Blue Girl, but does have fragrance, sometimes quite strong, other times not. Since this is the only offspring I’ve kept from this cross, I can’t comment on dominant tendencies. Her color is very variable depending on weather, and very interesting since sometimes her hot pink turns a pretty light-medium pink on the center petals and the outer petals darken to a smokey red. Other times the whole bloom turns smokey. The bloom is quite large in the cooler weather.
By the way, as a seed parent I haven’t had much luck with germination. This year I’ll let her ripen longer.
Im not sure which Blue Girl to be honest. The one’s around here seem to be distrubuted by Star Roses… but J/P also does… and so do those chain-wholesale virused vendors of variable names. Star Roses says that they have the Kordes version but the one’s that I am seeing are usually very fragrant so Im going to guess the Tantau version is most common from the one’s I am seeing. I noted your seedling, Judith. I plan on using Blue Girl as a pollen parent if I do use it. So far, Im not seeing much of a disadvantage for using it compared to some of the more modern mauves. Neptune is slightly more rain-resistant but it turned out to be an icky parent for me reguardless. I thought about trying Distant Drums x Blue Girl … or something. I dunno.
I forgot to add that I bought Royal Amethyst this year. It is Angel Face x Blue Girl (reportedly the Tantau version). If memory serves me, there is a reciprocal cross but it isnt healthy like Royal Amethyst. That isnt conclusive evidence or anything but I think I’ll take my chances with using Blue Girl as a male parent if I use it.
In 1973 I bought both Mainzer Fastnacht and Cologne Carnival (K
I prefer ‘Blue Nile’.
On another forum, someone mentioned that ‘Purple Passion’ seemed to pass on thicker petals as well as fragrance.
No personal experience.
Chris Mauchline
I thought about Blue Nile, Robert, but I noticed that it’s descendants often have really gawky habits with “eh” rebloom. I was gonna pass over it but now Im wondering if Daybreaker x Blue Nile would be a good F1. What do you think?
I am a bit ticked. My brand new Royal Amethyst bloomed. It has absolutely awesome first blooms but they were limited since it was a newly planted Canadian multiflora bareroot. I saved the limited pollen. I applied it today because the pollen was ready and it was dry. It just rained sooooo hard a few hours ago. Bah! I think I may give Lagerfeld one more chance. Maybe I’ll see if it’s a decent seed parent. Or I could try it on Gemini as an F1. I dunno =/
I wish we had access to the newer mauve HT/GR’s from Europe like Twice in a Blue Moon.
Oh… The Scotsman is the other European variety I was thinking of. There may be more.
Lagerfeld supposedly works as seed parent. The repeat with Blue Nile could be better but I love the form and the substance is very good. It sets hips easily. Stainless Steel has been good for many. What would you hope to get out of Daybreaker x Blue Nile? What are you breeding for?
I want a mauve that is healthy, disease resistant, compact yet well-branched. Form can be decorative. I basically want a large-folwered mauve that would look great in the garden with minimal care (much like Remember Me or Tequila Sunrise… lots of blooms on a plant that can be packed into the modern landscape for cutting or general aesthetics) . I thought of Stainless Steel btw but it is really difficult to get pollen from it during this time because the blooms are so large that they just sort of melt 
Have you looked at shocking blue. I know its not a hybrid tea but one of the parents is sterling silver. I don’t have one but it is supposed to have great flower form and healthy leaves. I seem to also remember that it is a good seed parent. 'Good luck.
Patrick
Oops, not sterling silver but silver star for the parent of socking blue.
Shocking Blue sets hips easily here but the blossoms are on the small side and the petals persist too long for my taste. I made a few crosses on it this Spring but only because I had it readily available. There have been some nice cultivars derived from it.