Once upon a time, there was a long list of roses that hadn’t gotten Rose Rosette Disease (RRD). As I started collecting lists of roses that had sickened with RRD in the eastern US, the long list became much shorter, and most species on the list were marked off as their offspring sickened.
Rosa bracteata was exposed to RRD early on (possibly because of its invasive status in Texas). Dr. Jim Amrine has published that the vector mites do not recognize that they have landed/been placed on rose leaves when placed on bracteata leaves and they try to depart. (He also reported the graft transferrance of RRD to brateata.) Is there something in the cuticle of bracteata that is a natural barrier to the spread of RRD? I think it’s possible. I have two bracteatas that are massive in a controlled way. Neither has come down with RRD. I loose 0.5 to 2% of my roses each year to RRD.
After reading Larry Daniel’s commentary to the chemicals in rose leaf cuticles I wonder if a comparison of brateata leaves might show something less common but promising.
(Mermaid does get RRD, so retention of the leaf character needs be carefully chosen.)
Link: www.rosehybridizers.org/forum/message.php?topid=14306&rc=5&ui=1374164159
I agree with Robert… I don’t think I would describe it as repeat-blooming either. Heck, I didn’t even get the long-flowering season that he mentions. But it is very pretty when it does bloom and it was remarkably clean (disease-free) here in the humid mid-Atlantic [another disease ridden area].
Two other attributes that might interest you Shane…
I was impressed with the “substance” of bracteata petals – no crepe-y-ness about 'em. That might be what allows them to bloom well on hot days (as Jadae mentioned above). And the flowers have a nice, sweet, fruity [“banana-like” to me] scent.
Robert, thanks for answering my ‘Joycie’ pollen question. It’s good to know that ‘Joycie’ can be used as the pollen parent, because I would prefer to use my bracteata hybrids as seed parent. I’d like to try to keep the bracteata cytoplasm [which may or may not make a difference in disease resistance].
Now I’ll have to check out ‘Star Dust’. Thanks for the tip.
Rose Rosette is a really big problem in my area. I am glad to hear that R. Bracteata has shown resistance. That in itself makes it worth using.
I guess I read wrong about the repeat blooming.
Thanks again everyone.
My plant of R. Bracteata starts blooming in June and doesn’t stop till December. If thats once-blooming, its a heck of a LONG bloom period!
Paul
I’m not sure that this is what’s happening in your climate, Paul, but in mild climates a lot of things tend to bloom over a longer period–but don’t bloom as profusely at one time. The result is a moderate spring blooming followed by a trickle of flowers in summer and fall.
Length of the flowering lateral also affects the apparent bloom period; a lateral that takes a longer time to reach its full length will have its flowers later, sometimes 2-3 weeks later.
When canes build on older canes, the canes of different ages also tend to have blossoms at different times. Sometimes this is related to the different lengths of the flowering laterals produced.
When I lived on the Gulf Coast of Texas, it was not uncommon to see bracteata with some flowers on it most of the summer and into the fall. And the larger the thicket, the greater the likelihood of the presence of scattered blooms throughout the growing season.
Of course, maybe you have an everblooming bracteata. That would be very neat.
Peter
We get the same exceptionally long blooming pattern on the ones here in DC (zone 7/8). If that’s once-blooming, then I would have to say there’s no such thing as repeat.
My daughter, Adair Williams loaded up on all the hybrid bracteatas that Moore’s Sequoia nursery had left because we have had such fabulous success with Mermaid – I have one that we keep having ot pull off of the roof of the house that has never been sprayed or fertilized. Moore’s people recommended Joycie for crosses, but then said they were sold out. Does anyone know where we can get some? Will keep you posted on how each of her hybrids does. Our area of the country is great for testing blackspot and mildew resistance – it is so moist here. When a roses is listed as blackspot resistant it usually means that it will retain some leaves and the plant won’t die, but that is about all you can hope for. Mermaid is the best bang for the buck – you can fill a whole yard with just two of them. We have great hopes for Muriel as well. Felt that the others were also worth a try, but am not so sure how they will turn out.
Robert,
Joycie is indeed a very willing and capable parent, but so are several other More Miniatures. I would recommend Golden Angel as well, and perhaps Sheri Anne, and Golden Gardens and probably Sequoia Ruby should be on that list of hard working seed parents. I can start some cuttings of Joycie this summer if you still can’t find a plant.
Regards,
Paul
Many thanks for too kind offer of Joycie seedlings – will try to obtain first from commercial source in order to save favor in case we have an even bigger need down the road. Will happily add your other suggestions of hard working seed parents. I used to use Fairy Moss back in the 70’s because quantity of success was more important than quality. Like any good parent I loved all of my children even though none of mama Fairy Mosses children had any good looks. Now I am getting my daughter, Adair, started wirth about 400’ of roses and she is ready to dig up the rest of her beautifully landscaped yard for more roses – and she hasn’t had the first bloom yet. It took my first Angel Face bloom to hook me. She counts the leaves on her new tiny plants before and after work everyday. Can you imagine when one actually blooms. Do you think she is hooked.
Paul Barden – P.S. to last message. Sorry I forgot to put your name at the top of the foregoing thank you – I am new to this and still getting the knack of the protocol. Many thanks again. Bob
In researching the hybrid bracteata crosses, the only one I’ve seen that involved Mermaid itself was the cross with Guinee that produced Muriel. I was wondering whether anyone was aware of any other successful Mermaid crosses?
Also, I have a bud on one of my Tangerine Jewels! It looks like that will be my very first bloom, and I couldn’t be more excited!
Adair,
Correction: ‘Muriel’ resulted from a cross of R. bracteata X ‘Guinee’. ‘Mermaid’ was not involved in any of the Moore bracteata hybrids.
‘Muriel’ sired four Moore hybrids, including “Huntington Red Bracteata”, ‘Out of Yesteryear’, ‘Pink Powderpuff’ and ‘Star Magic’. Of these, ‘Out of Yesteryear’ went on to sire several important roses, including some used as breeders by Moore.
Regards,
Paul
Paul - thanks for the correction!
Has anyone in this group done any work with ‘Pink Surprise’, and if so, what results did you get? I’m guessing this is a Diploid?
Paul
Are there any offspring of Mermaid out there – whether from the diploid or the tetraploid version. I have only gotten a couple of OP hips, they contained only a couple of seeds and none germinated. It is such a great grower that I would think that someone would find value in some of its genes if it could produce viable seed or pollen. Has anyone besides Moore had any experience with Muriel as either a seed or pollen parent?
Thanks – Bob Williams.
Robert,
Yes, I have used ‘Muriel’ as a pollen parent. It won’t work as a seed parent I don’t believe. Many of its offspring will be once bloomers, and very thorny climbing types. It also has a strong leaning towards singles. Disease resistance will be very variable also. I think ‘Muriel’ has merit in breeding, but you may need to go more than one generation from it to start seeing good plants. It all depends what you want to accomplish. If you like thorny climbers, then this may be a good parent to use.
If you want more mannerly plants with better bloom form and healthy, beautiful foliage, then I’d work with ‘Out of Yesteryear’ instead. Getting strong color will be more difficult than working with ‘Muriel’, but there are other advantages.
Regards,
Paul
Paul – thanks for your usual excellent info. My daughter, Adair, has both Muriel and Out of Yesteryear to work with. Her enjoyment of single roses bodes well for her hybridizing efforts. Many thanks Bob Williams
I know that the hybrid bracteatas tend to be very disease resistant, which is one of the reasons I like them so much (I also love single/loosely double roses, and thorns). About how far down the line does that go, or would that depend on the disease resistance of the other parent(s) down the line?
Thanks a bunch!