Has anyone made any crosses yet?
I just spent the past four hours doing nothing but pollinating!
Paul…Thats what i did yesterday… Hope the rain held off long enough
You guys are killing me… My roses are just leafing out up here. Pollinations will not be until June.
Liz… move to north louisiana
Because a number of my stock plants are under plastic I have a double advantage: I can start three weeks before the main garden and I can work when its raining. I refuse to spend hours covering pollinated blooms with plastic (or whatever people use).
Paul… I use to fold and staple a note card over mine … I dont do that any more I try to keep a real close look on the weather…
I’ve done several, although-- I’ve never done pollinations for hours like Paul.
But I’ve made several crosses of Livin’ Easy X Persian Sunset.
Some intersting crosses I’ve made:
R. moschata abysinnica X Evelyn
Aloha X Evelyn
Crested Jewel X Evelyn
(Livin’ Easy X Robusta) X Lynnie
Crested Jewel X (Crested Jewel X OP)
And several odd Baby Love crosses on anything that bloomed, including one on Gertrude Jeckyll and Carefree Sunshine.
Enrique,
I aim to get 5000 seedlings a year, which requires me to make approx. 5000 pollinations to accomplish. I don’t always meet that goal, but I come mighty close most years.
I’m almost finished hybridizing. It’s getting too warm here now.
Blossoming was spotty this season with some things like xanthina finishing later than usual. (xanthina on Joycie has already aborted)
Some things I was counting on did not blossom at all but I think I’ll still end up with near 3000 pollinations. I can tell because I know how many boxes of labels I bought. Of course I did recycle a number from last season.
I wish I could keep everything but a number of seedlings from 2007 are going to have to go. I’m trying to give them away now.
Well, I don’t have space for sooo many seedlings. Plus, I tend to get busy so when I do these pollinations… it’s usually in the evening.
I do, however, try.
Latest pollinations of the day: R. moschata abysinnica X R. blanda.
Enrique, you need to get up earlier in the morning so you have an hour or two to do pollinations at the start of the day, not at the end! 
I started pollinating in late March. A few of the first ones have already aborted. Most of my pollinations are done on weekends. I only have about 15 minutes of light in the morning before I have to leave for work. Here are some of the crosses that I’ve done at least twice so far this year:
(Schoener’s Nutkana X Coral Dawn) X (Lilac Charm X Schoener’s Nutkana)
(Schoener’s Nutkana X Coral Dawn) X Basye’s 86-3
(Schoener’s Nutkana X Coral Dawn) X Livin’ Easy
Gemini X (Schoener’s Nutkana X Coral Dawn)
Silver Jubilee X (Schoener’s Nutkana X Coral Dawn)
Scarlet Moss X (Schoener’s Nutkana X Coral Dawn)
Magenta X (Baby Love X unknown)
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X (Baby Love X unknown)
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X Basye’s 86-3
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X Betty Boop
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X Distant Drums
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X Julia Child
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X Kaleidescope
(Magenta X Lilac Charm) X Livin’ Easy
Julia Child X (Magenta X Lilac Charm)
Natasha Monet X (Magenta X Lilac Charm)
Secret Recipe X Lilac Charm
Lilac Charm X R. alabukensis
R. alabukensis X Lilac Charm
R. gigantea X Oakington Ruby
Oakington Ruby X R. gigantea
Purpurea X Cramoisi Superieur
Purpurea X Lorraine Lee
Purple Buttons X Purple Passion
Joycie X Basye’s 86-3
Livin’ Easy X Basye’s 86-3
Sonia X Basye’s 86-3
Apricot Twist X Basye’s 86-3
Apricot Twist X Livin’ Easy
Apricot Twist X Royal Sunset
Royal Sunset X Apricot Twist
‘Verbena’ X Comtessa du Cayla
‘Verbena’ X Duchesse de Brabant
‘Verbena’ X Mutabilis
‘Verbena’ X William Allen Richardson
(Mons. Tillier X Mutabilis) X ‘Verbena’
‘Verbena’ is my nickname for a seedling I found growing in a potted Verbena. I have no idea who its parents were, but it is very healthy and very floriferous. I think it’s diploid.
"Oakington Ruby X R. gigantea "
/me stares in disbelief.
PS: ‘Distant Drums’ produces mostly runty, mildew prone seedlings. Those that aren’t are just unremarkable. I have given up on it.
Oakington Ruby X R. gigantea wasn’t a cross that I’d planned. When they happened to bloom at the same time, the idea of crossing them was so wacky that I had to try it. It’s like crossing an elephant with a flea.
Those elephant flea crosses are sometimes productive. You are wise to shrink gigantea and attempt at instituting genes for remontancy as soon as possible.
My crosses with ‘Amber Cloud’ are going to be way too big to manage long term, except for the one I did with mini.
‘Distant Drum’ DOES produce a lot of runty mildew prone seedlings. I’ve given up on it too. Here’s one of the few I’ve kept for now.
Jim, I have some stuff here you may be interested in. We’re working along the same lines in some areas.
Btw, Alabukensis is fertile but disease resistance of seedlings is problematic.
Don’t get me wrong, I recognize the virtue of some of the “Elephant and the Flea” crosses, I was just picturing some of the monstrous seedlings you will get. Moore’s ‘Pink Clouds’ is an ‘Oakington Ruby’ cross and I have to take a machete to it at least twice a year to keep it in bounds. Frightening.
Crosses already?! Good grief, not even R.w.ultramontana is blooming here yet.
Now I’m all depressed… Grow, roses, grow!!
I love the idea of gigantea x ‘Oakington Ruby’. I would love to see how this one turns out and will be doing similar crosses here in the coming years (it fits the list of names I have for roses I want to breed ).
Paul… there are no photos of ‘Pink Clouds’ on HMF. Reckon you could put a few up? I’ve got a few multiflora x miniature seeds in the fridge now too so would be good to get a hint as to what they might turn out like.