Two years ago I crossed Rosa woodsii ultramontana with the mysterious “Fort Pella Purple,” a crimson/purple wichurana climber… maybe. My goal was to see if this cross would produce a rose with more than five petals, add color, and result in something a little more well-behaved as a plant than ultramontana, which takes over in a hurry, and a plant with, hopefully, fewer thorns. I got one seedling, which turned out to be promising, a nice combination of traits of both plants.
This year, this cross was the first of the roses in the garden to come into leaf, and the first to produce a bud.
A bud.
Which boring beetles promptly chewed a huge hole in.
So, sprayed the garden, waited and waited on this bud to bloom. Poor thing, it’s doing its best, and here it is. I did get multiple petals, at least, and there is the barest hint of a purplish color. Very slight fragrance, but I suppose it’s doing its best.
The plant itself is doing splendidly!
Oh well, there’s always next year…