This rose is so beautiful! It seems to have a strong color transition like ‘Double Delight’, but be a bit more vigorous. I wish it had stronger fragrance. It sets lots of large op hips. Just wondering if others have tried it as a parent yet and what others’ experience with it is. I hope to give it a try next year and cross it with some of the healthy, hardy shrub roses adapted in the North.
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I’ve not even seen White Lies, but the similar appearing Cherry Parfait proved a good parent in both directions for me. At least in my climate, it’s healthy, vigorous, fertile (again, both directions), as attractive as the photos of White Lies and, like it, also lacks the scent of Double Delight.
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‘White Lies’ was covered in mildew in the racks at Home Depot 2 years ago, so I never touched the rose. I was also not impressed by the blooms. The blooms may not be great for cool, humid springs. I noted bloom stunting and the white was not so white (off-yellow), and the red was not so red (pinkish).
Tested in high UV, high elevation, low humidity areas. Does not always translate to coastal states.
Heart n Soul is an easy seed parent breeder, and one I would recommend over White Lies.
What about experience with the ‘Never Alone’ cultivar, which is visually similar to the others mentioned? It has its origin in the Agriculture Canada program, and released after the shuffle of the original materials to other stations across Canada.
I posted about ‘Never Alone’ years ago on HMF.
Campfire, introduced on the same timeline by the same folks, is superior in every way, except stem length. It easily produces red blends much darker than itself. It’s also not prone to the gunk Never Alone is. Never Alone, like Morden Belle, is quite prone to secondary spot foliar diseases. Never Alone by far more than Morden Belle. The use of Scarlet Meidiland may be responsible for this, although it itself is not prone here.
Personally, if you can get both Campfire and Heart n Soul, they are the best bets. The latter for seed. Heart n Soul x Home Run gave me seedlings that produced colors in hybrids of them similar to White Lies/Double Delight.
Also, Never Alone is not like the former roses. It is not specifically a color changer. The margin is quite static. The intensity of the margin is dependent on bud-formation conditions, and the amount of awful chlorophyll it puts in the blooms at the time. Yes, it is a must-deadhead rose. An awful trait for multi-flowering roses.