It is highly likely the OP are gonna be inferior to the real thing Simon, but go for it!!
I am still searching for Midnight Blue here, as you know it has entered the country, someone out there knows about it!
As I know??? Does George Williams = George Varden???
I’ve been told OP seeds will be inferior for lots of things. On the other hand… you just never know what you’ll get and you gotta be in it to win it 
Oh yeah, I forgot to say, over the last couple of years after trialling several different plants of ET here, (from various different sellers), I realised it was a generally crap performer in my climate/garden, and this had nothing to do with bad growers or bad specimens, or grafting or whatever other excuse I initially threw at it. Bloom repeat was very lacking, growth dwarf and exteremely slow for my patience with it. One specimen kept browning it leaves, I still have no idea what that was o_O… and the pinking of the color especially in the heat was icing on the cake!
No more ET left in my “rose garden”, if I can call it that ATM LOL.
:0)
yes Simon, it is a long story but one G =the other G
Simon, you wrote: "…Apparently ‘Midnight Blue’ was brought in at the same time as ‘Ebb Tide’ by Swanes…
I of course have no idea exactly who imported MB, but someone has because my local rose grower at Dural has definitely heard about MB having been in Oz… I tried ringing him about this yesterday, but forgot it was a public holiday. I must ring him and press him again about this issue, he might just be able to get in touch with the right people to work out this mystery!
Some local ‘Blue For You’ specimens which have been planted near to where I live, and which I have been observing from a distance for a few years now, are prone to some PM as well as a little BS, as well as some dieback! … and the plants tend to get BIG and tall… so not for the front of a border, to be sure!
The BFY “blue” color is very dramatic when conditions are right, almost a real dark violet-blue! However, at other times of the season these tones are lost out to insipid bleached variations of same, making the plant look “scrappy”, overall.
I think this rose has some potential in breeding unusual colors. I am not dismissing it, I might even purchase one.
Ohh… and judging by the number of OP hips formed, …“he a ho!”
And also SHE a ho!!
Hi Michael,
Regensberg is currently thriving for me, does suffer some BS, but shakes it off & just blooms. (Pain to breed from though - sets seed but won’t germinate)
White Lightnin’ would set seed & germinate very well when I lived in the tropical north in the early '90s. May require a warmer place? Many OP seedlings did not have much chlorophyll & died before leafing out.
Rod
Have just sent out an email regarding MB to a key contact…will let ya know if anything positive transpires…
Hi Simon. My sources tell me that MB has definitely entered the country, and may be released for sale some time in the future, but this is not a guarantee. It is still under evaluation.
It is in the Swanes test plot at Naromine… a friend of mine reckons it will be offered for sale as 'the new and improved version of ‘Ebb Tide’ once everyone realises what a dog it is here 
Hey Simon,
That’s good news! MB is one of the few non-seedling roses that I still use in breeding. It does everything right as a breeder - sets hips well, produces abundant pollen, seeds germinates well, and most importantly - many seedlings are “keepers”.
Hopefully it shouldn’t be too long for you to track it down!
Jim Sproul