Finally! An answer... okay, a partial answer but... 42!!

General Discussion
1

I’ve been waiting for four or five years to see the result of this cross! I’ve wondered… is the spotting on Fa’s Marbled Moss the same, in kind and/or in genetic control, as the spotting on roses such as ‘Marbree,’ ‘Alain Blanchard’ and ‘Song of the Stars.’ I made the FMM x ‘Song of the Stars’ cross and got seven seedlings, two of which did not overwinter. The other five are only producing buds this year for the first time.

And here it is! I think I shall call it “42” since it’s giving me answers, at least partially, to that vexing question!

[attachment 752 42MoreOpen.jpg]

Here is a picture of it with its parents, seed parent “Fa’s Marbled Moss” (left) and pollen parent ‘Song of the Stars’ (right).

[attachment 753 42FamilyPortrait.JPG]

Here are three petals, one from each flower, showing a close up of the spot.

[attachment 754 smallThreePetals.jpg]

My original question was, are the types of spotting found in FMM and the others created by the same genetic mechanism, or a different one? My hypothesis was that the genetic mechanism is different, because the spots on the two types of petals are distinct in two ways:

  • FMM’s spots are large and involve the entire cross-section of the petal, front and back, while the other spots seem to be, in the main, surface markings; and

  • FMM’s spots are distributed randomly–some petals have two or three spots that cover virtually the whole petal, other petals on the same flower may have none at all, while the distribution of spots on the others is relatively uniform in both size and distribution, both on individual petals and on whole flowers.

Now I’m wondering if what I’m seeing is the rose equivalent of the Leopard (Appaloosa-spotting) gene in horses. There is one gene which says, “You will be spotted,” and many others that say, “And you will be spotted in this particular way.” They way to find this out, of course, is to allow 42’s flowers to self pollinate and see if I can get the parental spot types, and only those types, to appear on any of the offspring.

Sorry for blathering, this kind of thing is very heaven for me! In any case, I have a beautiful new rose!

2

OMG, Fara, that is gorgeous! And what an exciting experiment too!

3

Fara,

That is so gorgeous! (there should be a few more exclamation points) The offspring is a real combo, but even better. Love how you photograph purples-with those guys it helps to be able to do that. The spots are so integral to the beauty of these flowers.

4

That kid is gorgeous!

5

Congratulations, beautifull rose!

6

Wow, that is so pretty! The color is fabulous! Congratulations!!

7

Super pretty! Love all your spotted roses Fara.

8

Thanks, everyone! I should have another rose from that same cross opening sometime next week. Augh, can’t wait! In the meantime, I’ve gathered pollen from the first two flowers and spread it far and wide (in accordance with my new mantra, “Cross ALL the roses!”). I’ve even tried it with Purple Tiger because you never know…

9

I love how we each represent a tangent of direction here, and I love how it is updated. Keep up the awesome fun, ya’ll :slight_smile:

10

Ah, a woman after my own heart, love the new Mantra “Cross ALL the roses!” My husband often tells me I need to think before I cross but what is the fun in that?

11

Very beautiful Fara - congratulations!

Joan, that is funny - hahaha!

12

OK, Fa, you seem to be on the way to the reverse of the “thornless moss” idea. I wonder if selfing that rose would result in smooth peduncles with mossy sepals?

13

We’ll see! In a couple of years… (Good thing time is going by so quickly anymore.)