Certified Roses pollen parents

Roses for Hybridizing
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Hello friends, hope that you’re enjoying the end of winter as much as I am!

My love of roses and gardening has finally progressed to the point of working at a local garden center. And as I stare at the vast collection of roses we sell, a good 80-90 percent of the entire 2025 Certified Roses catalogue, my first instinct is concern for my part-time paycheck, but my second instinct is excitement at the prospect of collecting pollen to use on my seed parents at home.

My hybridizing goals largely revolve around native species roses, so modern x modern crosses are a tertiary priority. However, there is a good chance that my species and near-species cuttings won’t produce many (if any) blooms this year, so this might be a good side quest. Nonetheless, with such a wide array of beautiful roses I can’t help but utilize the opportunity. And in the process I’m learning a lot about the roses we sell so I’d call that a win-win.

Anyways, here are some ideas so far.

Pollen for modern seed parents to make a pretty flower:

Intrigue (I will probably but this one justmfor the fragrance)
Moonlight in Paris
St. Tropez
Fragrant Plum
Euphoria
Julia Child
Lagerfeld
Ebb Tide
Charisma
Alfred Sisley
Don Juan
True Spirit and True Love

Pollen for seed parents with 12.5%-50% species lineage, to hopefully find one or two exceptional crosses to hold onto for further species work:

Miracle on the Hudson
Queen Elizabeth
Fragrant Cloud
Sally Holmes
Zéphirine Drouhin
Apricot Drift

Pollen for species seed parents, which will probably just be foliolosa and rugosa this year:

Lady Banks white and yellow
Peggy Martin
Sally Holmes

This is me trying to keep the list reasonable, as I am prone to over-eagerness in this hobby, and also will definitely change as I observe how the various roses perform in the ensuing heat and humidity.

I’d love any suggestions that come to mind!

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I would not use any Certified Roses variety for pollen parents simply because Certified has a well-earned reputation for producing a lot of virused plants. They simply don’t care about virus, so you’re sure to encounter plenty of RMV-infected plants from that brand.
Why do I express this concern? Because there is a non-zero chance you will infect the seed bearing plant if you place pollen from a virused plant onto a clean plant. I would never use pollen from a plant I know is virused on a valuable seed bearing variety.
This is just my personal take on the matter, but something to think about.

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Sigh. Is there other horticultural hobby so tainted viruses and other diseases? You’d think we were trying to revive the American Chestnut tree or something.

But in all seriousness, thank you for the insight. I had totally forgotten that there’s at least one virus that can transfer via pollen. I’ll limit any pollen usage to roses that I already have reason to believe are virused, such as my other roses from Certified – bought before I went down this hybridizing rabbithole.

BTW I’ve been happy to see your recent posts. When I was first wrapping my mind around all of this stuff I stumbled upon your old blog posts and read them from start to finish. They were very helpful and interesting.

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Yes, orchids, stone fruits, citrus…plant viruses occur in many genera. Join an orchid club. Everything done has a virus avoidance element. If you’ve ever shopped citrus trees, “Improved Meyer Lemon” is a Meyer Lemon which has been cleaned from a virus. And, supposedly, from what I’ve read, if you’ve ever handled tobacco, smoked or chewed it, you can transmit tobacco virus to tomato plants by handling them. You do what you can with what you have or can obtain.

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Point taken :slightly_smiling_face: Ignorance is bliss I suppose.

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I live in Texas, and it is near impossible to source roses locally that don’t have a link to Certified. Perhaps our climate masks such, but I haven’t seen RMV in a rose from Certified in the last decade. (Paramount, on the other hand…)

Of course, I run more scared of RRD which I know exists in my county. I have seen commercial plantings with hundreds of K.O. roses decimated by (I presume) idiot commercial “landscapers” hedging with unsterilized machinery.

I think there is much merit in crossing moderns back to species, and I have and like a few on your list.

Miracle o.t.H. is a very nice and fertile shrub with an interesting pedigree and I have been backcrossing it to species hybrids. Alfred Sisley is, to date, the best of the striped roses I have grown.

I don’t believe the double flowered banksias will have fertility…

Check HMF to see if the older cultivars you are looking at are proven parents. A premium membership.makes researching pedigrees a breeze.

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I agree with Philip: research any potential parents by looking at their list of offspring (if they have any) and you will get an idea of what they are capable of. Roses with zero offspring may be varieties to avoid.

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