I would love a list of green roses that have good potential as breeders in anybody’s experience.
Hi George,
I have had a few seedling that have green in them. Two HT roses that you might look into are St. Patrick and Arthur Bell.
Hope they work for you.
jack
‘Greensleeves’ set plenty of hips here but I never sowed the seed. It has decendants as both seed and pollen parent.
The Bright Smile line, as well as the Gold Medal line, seem to infuse chlorophyll into the petals of some of their progeny.
The Bright Smile line, as well as the Gold Medal line, seem to infuse chlorophyll into the petals of some of their progeny.
Why assume the green is due to chlorophyll? It’s probably not. More likely it is due to the green carotenoids, and as such could be selected for and intensified.
‘Sheri Anne’ gives a percentage of green seedlings, FYI.
Thank you all.
I imagine there is probably a low demand for such color, as green blooms would be less contrasting against green foliage.
Maybe green flowers set on a rose with bronze leaves could be a hit.
Hi George,
If I remember correctly, Treloar’s are advertising a couple of green roses. In the cut-flower section, I think.
Rod
Thank you Rod.
I see the cut flower variety “Twin” in Treloar’s listing of greens.
All the “greens” appear very insipid to my eye.
Maybe there is a job out there for someone to develop improved greens in roses (if this is possible at all).
Hi George,
I have ‘Twin’ and in the garden the colour is more yellow than green. Its flowers burn on the edges. It’s not bad in the garden but would be happier in greenhouse I think. If one was trying to breed green greenhouse roses it might be ok though. It doesn’t set hips here.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the information.
Also, I hope your cuttings arrived ok.
George
Good news on the fortuniana cuttings George… They have begun callousing already. I’m going ot leave them another week to develop the callouses even further and then pot them on to see how they go from there.
Simon, I am sure you will have close to 100% success with them. All the best.
George.
Would green carotenoids attract aphids like new foliage tip growth does? I’ve grown Mint Julep, Table Mountain, Greensleeves, Sheila MacQueen, Rainforest, a few other green seedlings of Ralph Moore’s, Green Diamond, Green Ice and several of my own “greens”. In every case, these flowers were frequently loaded, PACKED, with aphids in the petals, attended to lovingly by hoards of ants while nearby flowers of other colors, weren’t. Because the petals increased in their intensity of green pigment as they aged, and because they attracted aphids like new spring growth, I’ve always presumed it was due to chlorophyll in the petals. Would the carotenoids attract aphids too?
Would green carotenoids attract aphids like new foliage tip growth does? I’ve grown Mint Julep, Table Mountain, Greensleeves, Sheila MacQueen, Rainforest, a few other green seedlings of Ralph Moore’s, Green Diamond, Green Ice and several of my own “greens”. In every case, these flowers were frequently loaded, PACKED, with aphids in the petals, attended to lovingly by hoards of ants while nearby flowers of other colors, weren’t. Because the petals increased in their intensity of green pigment as they aged, and because they attracted aphids like new spring growth, I’ve always presumed it was due to chlorophyll in the petals. Would the carotenoids attract aphids too?
I’ve always presumed it was due to chlorophyll in the petals. Would the carotenoids attract aphids too?
I think you may be asking two questions - are the green pigments in rose petals carotenoids or are they chlorophylls; and if they are carotenoids then would they attract aphids. I don’t know either answer for certain.
Eugster stated that he presumed the green pigments in rose petals were chlorophylls, while in the same paper he listed a number of carotenoids found in rose petals that are indisputably green.
Aphids are not limited in their color cues. Fall tree foliage attracts them (google ‘nutrient retranslocation hypothesis’) so it seems reasonable that there are aphids who know about rose pigments too.
I know aphids and other sucking insects are attracted by the color yellow, hence why sticky traps are always yellow. If you want to test the idea, wear a yellow shirt out in your garden next spring. The green petals are irresitable to them, yet the “petals” of Viridiflora have no attaction for them.
Interesting… Can I digress here a litttle and ask whether Viridiflora is ok as a mother or father in breeding roses?
Does the green china even have the proper equipment to reproduce? I wasnt aware that it did/does.
Viridiflora is a mutation of ‘Old Blush’. The mutation does not have reproductive parts.
Occasionally it sports back to, 'Old Blush. Sequoia Nsy. had an example. There was a plant there that reverted back and forth.
In general, petals that go green don’t shatter. Many breeders consider this a fault. Blossoms that hold too long usually end up as a brown blob on the end of a stick as they age.