From my part I’d have to disappoint you I’m afraid. I didn’t label. Ispahan hardly makes any pollen and the stamen get tangled up in the petals, which would be one explanation why she seldom sets hips on her own. So I’ve just rubbed my finger on the pistils sticking out with the pollen I was doing my crosses with. Unlabeled and not demasculated/prepared. But if she sets hips these could be the fathers:
Violet Hood, Dortmund, Deep Secret, Lichtkonigin Lucia (used her a lot), Golden Wings, Absolutely Fabulous/Julia Child (this one also), Callisto, Lady Hillingdon Cl., Dresden Doll (an incredible amount of pollen from this one).
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Update. Most blooms are turning brown. But a few are still green. I think I’ll have a few hips. But I’m not expecting much. But now and again in rose hybridizing I get a pleasant surprise. So 
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I can report that most of the planned crosses are meanwhile turning brown or yellow. OP’s are still many on the bush. We will see how things progress. Indeed, rose hybridizing is a truly fascinating matter. One never stops learning. Of course, I also keep all fingers crossed for our little project.
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I might join you guys next season… 
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So how did it go… The silence doesn’t bode well
Not a single hip this year. While I did quite some pollinations with leftovers from other crossings. But I’ve managed to obtain 6 or so seeds from Comte de Chambord which I thought was impossible last year.
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Sorry to hear that. Good luck with Comte! I got some op hips, will keep you posted if they germinate. In other news, I have never seen and by extension got to smell Ispahan. The good news is, I planted a bare root recently… I will be throwing pollen at it in solidarity
You are in for a treat. Perfect Damask smell. Beautiful flowers. Mine have the tendency to want to climb. Many long shoots. 250 or maybe 350 cm should work with support. Very strong rose.
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Since I first read about it, I have dreamed of having it. Not long now, I love damasks/portlands
Nada! 3 OP hips, 29 achenes, but no germinations so far. I’ll get back as soon as something happens.
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29 sounds 
. Would I be able to see your set up?
You would need a much higher germination rate to run the risk of space problems. I take a very relaxed view of this matter, because in this case it is absolutely certain that at most one to three seeds will germinate, if at all. The question then arises as to whether they are viable and if they are worth continuing to raise them. Experience has so far shown that this is likely to be a very rare occurrence.
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‘Comte de Chambord’ - That’s great to hear! No hips for me also this year. I’m interested to see if anything works out.
I’ve looked it up. 8 seeds from 3 hips. They’ve been sown this month. Maybe in 1 or 2 months I’ll have more info.
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Ok fine, I wish you good luck!
For those of you who have ispahan and it is verified, this is the plant i believe is ispahan based on my sleuthing efforts. Does this look similar to what your plants look like?
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The foliage doesn’t quite look right to me, and I’ve never seen ‘Ispahan’ mildew like that. I’d definitely like to see a photo once the flowers open!
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Ill send pictures of the blooms when they open, the mildew only happens in the spring and clears up pretty fast, i assumed that it gets mildewy because of the hot humid south carolina climate. But if I am off the mark, i will need to sleuth some more to find out what it is.
Mildew usually only happens here in Maryland in the spring when the humidity is low during the day, with warm days and cool nights–the arrival of warm to hot humidity in later spring and summer tends to clear it right up. I would guess that it’s similar down yonder. I’d say that you probably have a hybrid China, so you’re not far off the mark (I’m on record saying that I think ‘Ispahan’ has some China in its background–although not everyone here has agreed with that.)
The leaves are a bit to pointy and have reddish edges. Normally you’d have more flowerbuds, even with less established plants. Here are some pictures I just took. She looks terrible at the moment. We had some hale storms and those leafcurling aphids have really made her look ugly. But that usually gets better very fast, when the weather turns.
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