The rose Christopher Stone was an early hybrid tea (1935) bred by Herbert Robinson of Burbage, England. It is notable for being a hybrid tea that probably lacks R. foetida in it’s ancestry. Since foetida gets the lions share of the blame for blackspot susceptability, it seems logical to consider roses like Christopher Stone (a pink) and McGready’s Yellow (which also apparently escaped foetida) for thier potential in breeding blackspot resistant roses.
Are there other fairly modern roses that likewise seem to be free of foetida? (It is not possible to search HMF for roses that lack a particular ancestor). Others by Robinson are Our Princess and Elaine.
A side note is that in researching Robinson I learned his Burbage neighbor, Charles Chamberlain Hurst, is credited with giving us R. cantabrigiensis as well as a nukana hybrid, Cantab. Burbage was a hub of rose breeding in the first part of the 20th century, a fact now being exploited to attract the tourist trade.
I guess most of the blackspot came from the Hybrid Perpetuals. There are many (old) roses without foetida-genes that are blackspot prone. The specific foetida BS susceptibility should be bred out by now. It’s probably better to select resistant modern roses that pass resistance to their seedlings.
I agree Rob. It is amazing to me how much progress has been made in recent years for blackspot resistance, even with yellow roses like ‘Yellow Submarine’, ‘Yellow Brick Road’, and ‘Centennial’. There have been many generations of intermating and fortunately it doesn’t seem like yellow or warm flower color is closely linked with black spot susceptibility.
Robert, I’m just getting back to unfinished business from before the breeding season and this topic was on my list. Thanks for the mention of President Macia. Have you done any work with this rose?
I noticed Ophelia is very heavily represented in its ancestry. Have you had any sports from it?
Hi Don, I’ve had President Macia here about three seasons. I know I got some seedlings using it as pollen parent but as I remember they were culled early on as they weren’t much to look at. I may give it a go again eventually.
I distributed Macia to Vintage Gardens, Roses Unlimited and Cool Roses. It looks like Cool Roses now has it in inventory. They bud their stock so they make faster.
Macia has not sported here as yet. It’s a beautiful rose.