Does anyone know anything about Bright Melody? It is a Carefree Beauty x (Herz As x Cuthbert Grant)cross. How hardy and healthy is it? How is it as a parent? How does it compare to the other red Bucks?
Thanks,
Paul
I had hoped that someone knowledgeable would have answered this by now. When I first saw this question, I immediately looked up all of the Buck reds. Theyre quite varied and from peculiar backgrounds. I dont know how to answer your question personally, but my first thought was that this looked like a good rose to cross with a healthier, shrubby austin red.
Paul,
I am completely ignorant concerning your question; I do have some Bucks including Carefree Beauty which I like immensely and find them quite healthy as a whole.
I would second Jadae’s suggestion. Henry Kuska made a good point sometime ago concerning this. He suggested instead of hybridizing within a particular breeder’s line, he suggested crossing between breeder’s lines and as Jadae suggested above, he mentioned crossing Bucks with Austins.
Thought it was pertinent at the time and still do.
Jim
This seems to be one that is flying under the radar for most people. I posted a similar question on Garden Web and only one lady from Texas answered. This is what she had to say about it: “I have found it to be a tall, healthy rose and it was a consistent bloomer. It is not a bright red, rather more of a muted red, but it showed up great along this very long fenceline”.
Crossing it with a red Austin is a good idea. The “red” Austins that I’ve seen are usually more of a magenta. I have Falstaff and Wenlock and I would not call them red. Disease resistance and red color are two areas that can be improved upon in the Austins.
A red Buck that has done well at the Arboretum here is Polonaise. In October it still had all of its leaves with very little BS. I’ll have to decide if I want one or both of these roses.
Jim,
I agree with both of you.
I think that most breeders, once they get good breeding stock, tend to work with their own material, which is understandable as they have breeding goals and feel their material is the best way to achieve those goals. We may have different goals or if we have similar goals may have different ideas on how to achieve them. So naturally we are going to use different roses in our program.
There are quite a few Bucks out there, but they are a varied lot and I doubt that Dr. Buck explored all possibilities within them. So there is a lot of potential out there yet within the Buck line. But with the exception of Applejack, I don
Does anyone have experience with Griff’s Red? The pictures on HMF show a color that seems better than the magenta mentioned in relation to the Austins. A plant of it was offered to me once, but never sent, so I have no personal experience with it.
Peter
Griff’s Red was a disease disaster here.
Earth Song X Country Dancer produced a nice red; each ogr-style bloom has an unusual black center.
Do not ever use Falstaff. I made that mistake once. It made 100% long-limbed, non-repeating disease magnets. It was too bad, too. It has beautiful blooms. I think it has hybrid perpetual or something similar in its close lineage. William Shakespeare 2000 is likely better, and I regret choosing Falstaff over it.
And, no, I cannot think of a true red Austin, either. They are all pretty much laced with cyanidin or peonin, and lack any scarlet overtones whatsoever. It’d be interesting to mix in Hot Cocoa in with both breeders lines of roses, lol. That thing seems like a pelargonidin powerhouse. I think it is like…4 generations? removed from Tropicana, lol. And similarly related to a lot of random older orange-red poly-flora types via City of Leeds and Tenor.
Dave, I’m not sure where you live. Perhaps Griff’s Red is not as disease-prone in other areas. There are different strains of blackspot in different parts of the country.
For what it may be worth, I looked at the parentages of the relatively few Buck reds. It seems that those with the best red coloration are descended from World’s Fair, either through one of his seedlings or through Swim’s Bravo, which is from World’s Fair x Mirandy.
Peter