I sowed several seed from Country Dancer x Harrison’s Yellow. The seedlings do not have anything that resembles the pollen parent, they look just like their “mother.” I was about to cull them thinking that the desired cross had not occurred, but then I realized that none of them have bloomed. Do you think that would indicate that they do, indeed, have the Harrison’s Yellow genetics, because they are apparently once-bloomers?
Why wouldn’t you allow them to flower before culling them? Unless they are horribly diseased, they may have something worthwhile going for them, so as long as you have the room and resources to support them, I’d let them flower and see what they may turn out to be.
I used Harison’s Yellow a few times in crosses with distantly related/modern roses, and the seedlings I raised rarely bore any close resemblance to Harison’s Yellow (in fact, a surprising percentage were even fully repeat blooming). Only subtle visual cues were evident, such as the shape and density of the prickles, the shape of the flower buds, and/or or a slightly grayish cast to the leaves.
Stefan
Kim, I had lots of open pollinated Country Dancer, and those usually tend to look so much like “mama” that there is nothing that strikes my fancy. The seedlings usually bloom very quickly, a bit too early at times. The ones that I believed/believe were Harrison’s Yellow crosses are not blooming. I had them in the greenhouse a bit too long (it’s 100 here today) and they look really rough. I planted them all out in a row in the garden yesterday (no culls) and will give them a year or so.
Thank you for that insight, MidAtlas. Not trying to reinvent the wheel, but Harrison’s yellow has great sentimental value to me. One of the first roses I took an interest in as a child.
Yellow Brick Road x Harrison’s Yellow may be interesting.