I recently spoke with an expert Italian breeder who claims it is not true that a seedling may increase the number of petals when the plant has grown, compared with the first flower … what do you think?
From experience, it is true some CAN increase their petal counts. It is not true that ALL will increase their petals counts.
From our experiences, we have had a number of plants that have had increased petal counts. We have often observed this increase between the first and second bloom. Mitchie always thought that the seedling was in the process of developing roots, stem and foliage and was not putting max energy into the bloom from the get-go. Mother Nature wants to insure that, at least, the plant will perpetuate itself by having a bloom, albeit even though small to produce a self pollinated hip. As it grows and matures, more energy can be diverted to the bloom. I have seen this as well in my seedlings that I am observing in the greenhouse as I write this.
thanks is also my experience … I do not know why that hybridizer claims to have never seen a rose petals increase in 40 years of work…
I have not seen a big change in petal number in many lines, especially singles. But one seedling last year went from 10 to 20 over 3 bloom cycles. The petal shape also seemed to change. Another- my orange surprise, did much the same, increasing petal number as the plant matured. I’ve also noticed that with some, if I let cuttings bloom while small, they seem to make blooms with fewer petals. This is really all about the petaloids, not true petals. Temperature also affects this trait, notably in Crimson Glory which gets down to 10 petals at high temps.
Ophelia and her sports, particularly as own root plants, can flower as pure singles in triple digit heat, too, Larry. I found five petal blooms on Westfield Star, Lady Sylvia and Rapture often in Newhall. None of them remained single when the temps came back down, unfortunately.