My first cross of the season is Denver’s Dream x Unity. Unity is Coutts #1 × Hazeldean. Detailed ancestry for Unity is: (R. canina L. x unknown) x (R. spinosissima var. altaica x Persian Yellow)
Probably won’t get repeat bloom in F1 but I’m hopeful. In F1, looking for yellow/apricot/orange/peach, hardiness, excellent disease resistant and smaller stature.
Unity: 'Unity' Rose
Denver’s Dream: 'Denver's Dream™' Rose
What was your first cross of the season?
Good luck with them, Rob! These have been my first pollinations of the year.
(Indian Love Call X L56-1) X Xanthina, Minutifolia and Pure Bea, Primula, Californica, Banksiae lutescens, Fedtschenkoana, 86-3 and Kim Rupert
(Lynnie X 86-3) X all of the above listed pollens, plus C04, Secret Garden and a few others.
(L56-1 X Minutifolia) X Pure Bea (Minutifolia) and Minutifolia Otay Mesa
You’ve been busy Kim! There are some great crosses there. What are 86-3 and CO4? I love the color of your Indian Love Call x L56-1. I have a very similar color single from Midnight Blue x Thrive! that had first bloom last week. Love the purples!
Thanks Rob. 86-3 is Basye’s Amphidiploid 86-3, the Banksiae X Laevigata cross. 'Basye's Amphidiploid Seedling 86-3' Rose C04 is Ralph Moore’s crested hybrid. 'C-04' Rose I’ve been collecting pollen for weeks so when the seed parents I wanted to use began flowering, I could make an assembly line of it. I’m particularly eager to see what results from putting all the species pollen on Manhattan Blue. 'Manhattan Blue' Rose I know nothing about it other than how it’s been for me the two years I have grown it. I know its seed germinates and its pollen works.I think of it as an improved News. Similar intensity of the beet root purple on smaller blooms with much stiffer petals, but with lighter, bright yellow-green, “Dortmund-like” foliage.
Won’t it be fun seeing if Californica can enhance the “blue” in that?
Nice genes to work with there. Is 86-3 a climber?
Yes sir, they’re fun! Yes, 86-3 is fairly rampant. The most fun was the Stellata mirifica X Pure Bea Minutifolia. I’ve always just used my index finger to apply pollen, but mirifica is deeply set in a “cup”. It is the first one I actually used a paint brush to apply. Today, its pollen goes on minis.
Interesting crosses! 86-3 bloomed before my seed parents. I should have saved its pollen. Oh well, there’s always next year.
I’ve pollinated about 150 blooms so far this Spring. I don’t remember which cross was first, but it was one of these:
(((Magenta x Lilac Charm) x Cafe Ole) x Midnight Blue) x (Ebb Tide x Purple Heart)
(Apricot Twist x Ed Yesan) x (Fabulous! x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn))
(Apricot Twist x Julia Child) x Royal Sunset
(Carefree Beauty x Pink Parfait) x Fabulous!
(Danae x Mutabilis) x General Schablikine
(Danae x Mutabilis) x Mons. Tillier
(Danae x Mutabilis) x R. webbiana
(Danae x Mutabilis) x Smith’s Parish
(Ebb Tide x Purple Heart) x Rhapsody in Blue
(Ebb Tide x Purple Heart) x Rose Gilardi
(Fabulous! x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn)) x ((Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn) x Apricot Twist)
(Fabulous! x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn)) x (Apricot Twist x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn))
(Fabulous! x (Schoener’s Nutkana x Coral Dawn)) x (Apricot Twist x Ed Yesan)
(Lilac Charm x Purple Heart) x Cafe Ole
(Orangeade x Pinstripe) x Apricot Twist
Apricot Twist x (Orangeade x Pinstripe)
Apricot Twist x Compassion
Apricot Twist x Gemini
Apricot Twist x Mons. Tillier
Apricot Twist x Royal Sunset
Danae x General Schablikine
Danae x R. webbiana
Ebb Tide x (Lilac Charm x Purple Heart)
Fabulous! x Apricot Twist
General Schablikine x Mons. Tillier
Midnight Blue x (Scarlet Moss x Rhapsody in Blue)
Midnight Blue x Purple Heart
Midnight Blue x Rose Gilardi
Mons. Tillier x (Danae x Mutabilis)
Mons. Tillier x Apricot Twist
Mons. Tillier x Danae
Mons. Tillier x R. webbiana
Mons. Tillier x Robin Hood
R. webbiana x (Fru Dagmar Hastrup x Belle Poitevine)
R. webbiana x Mons. Tillier
Rhapsody in Blue x Purple Heart
Rhapsody in Blue x Rose Gilardi
Robin Hood x Mons. Tillier
Rose Gilardi x Ebb Tide
Rose Gilardi x Rhapsody in Blue
I can send you a little 86-3 if you’d like, Jim. I collected every flower from the plant and have some I’ve not used. Not a ton of it, but enough for a decent number of pollinations, if you’re “in need”.
some really cool crosses their Jim. I like that you are incorporating minis in your crosses.
Thank you, Kim! I’ll take you up on that offer. I did many crosses with 86-3 in 2007-2009 and got a few seeds, but no germinations. Seeing the beautiful foliage on your 86-3 seedling inspired me to try again.
Thanks, Rob! I’m actually more interested in breeding full-sized roses than minis, but I use some of Ralph Moore’s minis because they have excellent health and other characteristics that I’d like to have in full-sized roses. I do think it would great to have more good climbing minis, so I’m doing some crosses between minis and climbers this year.
If you wind up with some minis that need a test garden I could make room. 
Thanks, Jim. Lynnie863 is the most outrageous seedling resulting from that pollen. I’m heavily putting it to use this year with everything. Go heavily into the minis. They are rabbits! Things nothing else would accept pollen from have made fertile seed with several of the minis and going “large” out of mini crosses is very easy. I second the offer of testing good mini seedlings! You can never have enough healthy, fertile minis!
A note that might of interest to everyone. I tried some OP hips from ‘Campfire’ this past winter - no germinations. However, I’ve collected pollen this spring - ‘Campfire’ produces copious amounts of pollen. New crosses just made include (all from pollen from just 2 blooms):
Lynnie x Campfire
Carefree Sunshine x Campfire
Lemon Fizz Kolorscape x Campfire.
Stephen