I read somewhere that when you hybridise a rose, the foliage traits come from the maternal line, and the bloom traits come from the paternal line.
So with that logic, if I wanted the most hips that would produce seeds with traits for a rose with chalice-like bloom’s and light green folliage, I would cross a La Reine Victoria (paternal) with a rhapsody in blue (maternal).
I think most likely you’ll get a range in between with different shades of bloom colours and bloom shapes, and different foliage colours etc. but are certain traits passed more readily on if they come from a specific parent?
Sadly, I don’t think it’s that cut and dry. Take a rose like Angel Face. It’s been an extremely popular seed parent because it’s highly fertile and passes on mauve-colored blooms. Conversely you can find plenty of examples of rugosa foliage when that species or its hybrids are used as pollen parents.
I feel like breeders tend to focus more on seed parents which reliably pass on certain traits, the most highly prioritized being overall health. This is generally judged by how well the foliage stands up to blackspot, mildew, sunburn, etc., but that shouldn’t be misconstrued as those seed parents specifically passing on the genetic traits of the foliage, and really speaks more to the fact that good seed parents are much harder to find than good pollen parents.
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