I added 3 new roses to the hybridizing pot this year, and love what I’m seeing in all three of them: ‘Shining Moment’ (a Will Radler rose), ‘Desdemona’ (an Austin rose) and ‘At Last’ (from Horner). Does anyone else have experience with these? Which new roses have you decided to try this year?!
Jim Sproul
Jim,
My experience with ‘At Last’ was not good in regards to disease resistance. I really liked the color so I was disappointed. It was fertile in both directions for me.
Hi Rob,
Which disease(s) did you see on ‘At Last’? That’s too bad it’s resistance wasn’t better. It sounds like that is a key part of the marketing for it. Was its fragrance strong? That’s good to hear it is fertile.
David
Hi Jim!
Very curious about Desdemona! I have been in doubt but did not buy the rose. Let us know if she is a good pollen or seed plant!
Planning to work with ‘Paula Vapelle’ and ‘Karl Förster’ (among others), and if my rose ‘Duchesse De Montebello’ wants to flower this year (it refused last year), I’ll use her as a seed parent for some crosses.
Dane.
Hi David,
From what I remember, there was a bit of Black Spot but mostly Cercospora. My area is a hot bed for BS and Cercospora. There wasn’t a lot of leaf drop. Based on the marketing I was expecting better resistance but then again, Cercospora doesn’t seem to be a big part of disease resistance claims. The fragrance was there but I wouldn’t say strong. I liked the color. Hope this was helpful!
Thank you Rob for reporting your experience with AL. So far I haven’t seen any diseases on it. Right now I have a lot of downy, black spot and some other spotting disease in my yard. Powdery mildew is just getting started. I couldn’t detect much fragrance on it, but love the color. How does it compare resistance wise with ‘Julia Child’ and ‘First Impression’?
Hi Dane,
I am using ‘Desdemona’ as a pollen parent. It does not have abundant pollen, but hopefully my crosses will take. Later in the year, I’ll leave spent blooms on the plant to see if hips form. If they do, then I will check germination next year.
Jim
Last breeding season I used “Apache” , it grows well here, has huge bracts of blooms and sets hips easily. I used it mainly as a pollinator but I do have hips by it in stratification.
Jim, how did things go with Desdamona? Was the pollen viable? Did the flowers set hips that you left on plant?
How is the fragrance? Disease?
I have been seeing pictures all season from people on instagram, along with rave reviews from around the globe. But wondering if it would be useful for breeding?
Thanks!
DUane