As mentioned in previous threads I’m working on developing miniatures. I have been using Westerland, Autumn Sunset, Illusion and Quadra to bring in disease resistance and hardiness. Westerland and Autumn Sunset were big disappointments regarding passing on resistance so they were banished. Illusion is also in question but maybe it’s just been a really bad BS season so I’m giving her another season to prove herself. I crossed her with 1-72-1 and will see what turns up there. Illusion doesn’t show any BS until September and just a bit of it but her seedlings from last year didn’t get much resistance. Of the lot Quadra is by far the best choice as far as resistance.
I would like to add a new breeder that is known to pass on resistance and cold hardiness and I was thinking along the lines of Prairie Princess or a close descendant. I can’t find anyone offering PP so I don’t know if that is an available choice for me. I would appreciate any recommendations regarding which one to add to my collection. Thanks in advance.
Rob
I forgot to add that a fertile choice would be great. Thanks.
Rob
I wouldn’t count on Prairie Princess too much. I got OP seedlings from it this year and they have some B.S. late in the season, better than many seedlings, but not as good as many others from various crosses such as Rainbow Knock Out. BTW RKO seedlings (OP) are managable as small things and bloom repeatedly like a mini. Too young yet to guess their ultimate potential size. But RKO itself reaches scarcely 2 ft unpruned around here.
Yeah, go with Carefree Beauty over Prairie Princess if youre dealing with types like those two pinks.
I was told that Aunt Honey was not very fertile, but I had good seed set. They have 2 more weeks until harvest. The trick was to catch them early. Its similar to pollinating an English type. Its pollen was worthless. 100% failure. The plant itself is pretty awesome, and the blooms are not rain issues like the other Buck pinks/whites.
Another choice could be Bubble Double, which is a forced mutation of one of the Knock Outs. Its like Double Pink KO, but the tone is less harsh, like ‘Cupcake’ can be, and less harsh like Gene Boener pink, like Double Pink KO is.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I looked at Rainbow Knock Out on HMF and the ratings were so-so and some of the comments were unkind about it. Hmmmm…
I’d rather something other than pink or white but I may be limited to pretty much pink. I’ll take Prairie Princess off the list based on your opinions. Aunt Honey sure looks pretty but I think I need something a bit more fertile. Would I be correct that Carefree Beauty is a better choice over Country Dancer? I grew both years ago but have forgotten much about how resistant and fertile they were.
The Knock Outs I can pick up at any garden center next spring. Asthetically I’m not a fan of them but they sure are healthy and maybe I should get over my prejudice against them. There are several Double Knock Out (pretty sure they are DKO) plants in our village that have ripe hips on them. Not a single leaf with spots… Maybe I should pic some of those and give them a whirl. I’m assuming the Knock Outs are all triploids and some with pollen fertility.
Dont get Country Dancer. Another route is to get CB at Chamblee’s and test out 2 other of the new Bucks. Everything about Mary Susan is win/win …except for the blackspot lol. It is fertile and the stipples are consistant, though!
Michael,
I took your suggestion and ordered CB from Chamblee’s. Can’t wait to put some pollen from minis on it next spring. Liked the color on Mary Susan but the BS is an issue I’m trying to stay away from. Thanks again for the input!
Rob
I used them this year. I’d rate their own-roots as 5/5 starz, lol. T
Good to know! If I read correctly they ship gallon containers and the plant is under $9 with shipping to my area around $18…not bad at all. If all goes well I’ll use them again. Thanks for the tip.
Rob
‘Softee’ is a thornless Ralph Moore mini that’s pretty vigorous and healthy here, it stays pretty clean until later in the summer. Sets lot of hips. Mine’s about two, three feet tall, has nice shrub shape. You might want to try some of that in your breeding line.
Thanks Max. I do have Softee already and plan on using it again next season. This summer her BS resistance wasn’t great but it was a bad summer. Also, I could only get it to set one hip and that may have aborted early but will try to germinate seeds. Thanks again.
Rob
Ralph suggested using Softee for pollen. He felt it was better providing pollen than seed. Though I’ve had many self set hips, it is often resistant to setting hips I try to create. Kim
Have you tried Austin’s Heritage? The full flower is a nice bonus.
Link: home.roadrunner.com/~kuska/carefreeBeautyXHeritage.htm
Hello Henry. I’ve grown Heritage and although I loved the bloom form I didn’t find it to be BS resistant as I’d wanted so I pulled it. I’ve seen some of your seedling from her and see that you’ve gotten some intersting results. Thanks for the suggestion.
Rob
I finally got one good seedling from that line. It is Tatton x Geoff Hamilton. Both are floribuda-sized, but the offspring is a climber/pliable pillar, which can be dominant with Heritage. The colors are beautiful – marbled pinks, dark pinks, and salmon-tones w/ cupped OGR form. I just hope it doesnt mildew as matures even larger.
Tip: Geoff Hamilton, while an improvement over Heritage (to me, at least), is realy only good for pollen – and its hard to get.
Thanks for the tip on Geoff Hamilton, Michael.
Yesterday I checked my Heritage in my no spray north east Ohio garden. No blackspot (zero). For reference, some of my Knockouts have a little blackspot.
This has been a weird year as far as BS goes. Westerland and Autumn Sunset were defoliated with BS. Illusion had 25% defoliation and the only plant disease free at the end of the season is Quadra. There are a couple of L83 seedlings that did well also. The disease pressure did enable me to eliminate disease prone seedlings early on.
Hi !
If you are looking good healthy mini, I can recommend Warm Wellcome. It makes hips very well, and the seeds also germinate. This year I made one pollination with Hansa, and it took too. I made tens of pollinations with it this year, and they all took, but unfortunately during the heat of the August I lost them all except x Hansa hip. If your summers are not very hot, it might be forth trying.
Other higly recommended hardy, very disease resistant rose is Caramella (Kordes). It is one of the best hip setters. It took every pollen I put on it, and the hips are very, very fat…
Thank you for the recommendations Pia! I like the color of Warm Wellcome but when I checked HMF I didn’t see any US suppliers for that one. I have ordered Carmella and look forward to using her next season. I really glad to read that she sets hips really well…thank you for letting me know. She has great parentage and the color is very pleasing.