This one is gorgeous, Jim! Should you want to test it for coastal fog/inland heat combination, I volunteer! Encino can be quite comfortable and hell for roses!
Jim, those flowers look like winners!
Jim, they are both terrific. Apricot is so fickle.
Thanks Kim, George and Cass!
My first attempt in propagating this one was not good. I like to test the own rooting capability in the better new seedlings. 3/3 rooted, but not vigorously. Most of the other cuttings in the same tray are way further along than this one after 2 months. I might have been stingy with smaller stems on the first try, so this morning I made 6 more cuttings.
Jim Sproul
Jim,
Great work on all of these roses! I have never had any luck with passing on blotch YET. But,I have only been working with mine for just over a year now. How many Hulthemias do you work with? I assume you have a larger amount of them than I do. I am just trying to get an idea of the amount of them you are working with.
N161-1 is stunning! I really like how the color fades. Something I really try to take into account in my area.
“Sometime the blotch is only a “hint” of a blotch - these disappear completely in the heat, so you have to be on the lookout for them in new seedlings.” Interesting to know. If it ever goes below 90, I may have to take a closer look.
Hi Andrew,
I just realized that I didn’t answer your last comment. I now have several different Hulthemias that I am using in my breeding program. We are finally to “critical mass” and are making some good progress now.
These next two photos show the dose effect. The first is grandparent of the second. I am pretty sure that the first seedling, K34-1 has only one copy of the blotch gene(s), whereas I suspect that N126-1 has at least 2 copies (both of its parents were repeat blooming Hulthemias).
Jim Sproul
For some reason, the RHA website is not letting me post the picture here of N126-1, but you can see it on the link below.
Jim Sproul
Jim, I hope you don’t mind that I tried to upload your picture here of your N126-1.
It seems to be uploading my end for some very weird reason.
I hope this is the correct picture (if it uploads).
The improvement in the blotch size is very drammatic, I love it.
Beautiful, Jim, and thanks George, for uploading.
Jim P
Yes, I love the almost green look to it- almost hypnotizing.
Have we had significantly double enough hulthemias to determine if the blotch size is related to the petal size or if it remains relatively constant within a double flower?
The reason I was thinking of it is because I was wondering if quartered blooms such as this:
might be a decent way to show off a blotch because it has very small petalloids in the center and opens flat.
Hi George,
Thanks for uploading N126-1 into RHA! I don’t know why I couldn’t as I tried to do it a couple of different ways.
Hi Jon,
I think that the blotch is related to the individual petal size. That is, if you get a blotch that covers 30% of the length of the petal, the absolute blotch size will be bigger in flowers that have bigger petals. This seems to not matter whether the blooms are double or single. So the blotch on a 3 cm petal, apex to petal edge, may be 9 mm, while on a 4 cm petal, it may be 12 mm. This is all variable however, as some smaller blooms have very large blotches and visa versa. That said, I’m not sure that the blotch would show well on the flower link that you posted. I think that you would need better visualization of the apex portion of the petals.
The original Hulthemia persica blotch size seems to go 25-30% the length of the petals when measured from the apex. I think that it is going to be possible to increase that length to 50% and perhaps beyond that. I am seeing some blotch forms in fact that already seem to streak across the petal almost to the edge rather than being held to the discrete blotch form seen in those above.
Jim Sproul
Thanks for the info Jim- you would definitely be the person to know. On the side, Wasn’t it you that had some minutifolia hybrid seeds? Did any ever germinate?
Hi Jon,
I had some seeds that I thought might be from minutifolia. I had mixed pollen to attempt to increase hip take (similar to what has worked with the Hulthemias). All of the seedlings bloomed like modern roses and foliage/bloom looked mostly like the seed parent, so I was pretty certain that minutifolia pollen had failed. I will try again next year!
Jim Sproul
This is another presumed “2 dose” blotch effect, coming from the L83-4 pollen parent. This cross was inspired by Mr. Ralph Moore. He gave me a breeding size plant of ‘Cal Poly’ to use as the seed parent.
This photo was taken yesterday on 1-16-11. It shows the blotch at its best, in cooler weather.
Jim Sproul
Link: www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1349608&l=9303ad092f&id=1154482228
Beautiful Jim. Your photo elicited the response, “That looks like a hibiscus!” here at home. Kim
Very nice. I love that combination of colors.
Hey Jim (thanks for the reply!), just a few more questions (if I could be so bold)…
what do you mean by “mostly”. do you have pictures by any chance!?
was the foliage thick and rugose feeling? more prickers than normal? Did you keep them to see blooms and/or if they have bristles on the ovary/bud? any species/hybrid vigor over other normal/‘ingressed’ crosses?
…I wonder if, as a breeder, minutifolia breeds more towards the other parent.
Your hulthemia seedling(s!) is marvelous. When will you ever market some of them?
Oh, I should have read better. So no bristles on the buds, huh? I was hoping that would be a good indicator for minutifolia (well at least until I started working with roxburghii) 
Thanks guys! This is continuing to show that with repeat blooming hybrids that have good blotches (presumably at least 2 “doses” of the blotch gene), that you can get good blotches crossing them with regular modern roses. Previously, with the presumably triploid types (‘Tiggle’ and ‘Persian Sunset’), the best that you could hope for was smaller and/or lighter blotches.
Jon, minutifolia was definitely a failure, but thanks to Kathy Strong (got me another plant - thanks Kathy!), I will try again. I have to admit that the only thing that I really like about them is their very tiny foliage - definitely do not like the bristles!
Jim Sproul
The tiny everything and the interesting dill scent to the plant. Kim