‘Prairie Snowdrift’ is a semi-double white sport of ‘Morden Blush’ I introduced in 2008. It is superior to ‘Morden Snowbeauty’ in shrub/flower beauty, repeat bloom and disease resistance. Also, the shrub is more compact. Interestingly, in my experience because the flowers aren’t as double as its parent it sets open pollinated hips much more readily. Therefore, although ‘Morden Blush’ has been used successfully as a pistillate parent to develop cultivars, it’s possible this sport will be more productive to use as a pistillate parent. I’ll be experimenting with it next year, using ‘Frontenac’ as the primary staminate parent.
Paul, yes, “the” white sport sets so very easily, though from my limited work I’ve only gotten mildewed offspring … though, I should keep trying by crossing extremely disease resistant roses upon it.
Your ‘Prairie Snowdrift’ is a most welcome and needed white rose … and being far superior to ‘Morden Snowbeauty’!
Terry,
I’ll be accused of being biased but I’m not. I’ve had ‘Prairie Snowdrift’ and ‘Morden Snowbeauty’ growing in a small rose garden I established in a City of Edmonton public park. But this fall I yanked out the latter cultivar. It just isn’t good enough quality to be grown in a rose garden, when superior white cultivars can be grown successfully in a Zone 3 climate. I replaced it with ‘Paloma Blanca’, the only relatively cold hardy, white cultivar I had on hand. It seems to lack vigour but I’ll give it a shot because the flowers are gorgeous. We could use the development of a couple more non-Rugosa white cultivars that are crown hardy for Zone 3 climates.
Hi Paul!!!
I love ‘Paloma Blanca’ too!! From talking with some nurserymen they said they love it too, but all the stock they could get their hands has rose mosiaic virus. At times in the spring mine shows symptoms… Hopefully someday it can be cleaned up and hopefully it will be a bit more vigorous then.
Hi David,
If you have experience with the Bailey Nurseries Easy Elegance ‘Snowdrift’, can you comment about its crown hardiness in a Zone 4/5 climate?
I’m wondering if Paloma Blanca requires some winter chill. The plant I have is propagated from the infected plant I obtained from Kathy Zuzek years ago. It grew and flowered very well in Newhall, where there really IS winter chill. Here in Encino, where there is virtually none, it just refuses to grow in the ground. The five gallon plant has shrunk to the size of a two gallon (which I have it planted in now). I hoped to play with it using Doc as pollen on it in hopes of creating something along the lines of an “improved Iceberg” type, but not if the danged thing refuses to grow here. I am pushing it off on a friend how lives up in the mountains of northern California where she can freeze its ears off every winter. That out to “learn it”! LOL!
Paul,
I’ve had Baileys Snowdrift for a number of years now. This past winter because it was so mild, there was little die back and there was 26†of good wood on it. The two previous winters were more normal and with the good snow cover there was 12†to 14†of good wood in the spring.
My experience is the same as Paul’s with Snowdrift. It is reported as a cross of Sexy Rexy and Carefree Delight. The upright and spreading habit of Carefree Delight seems to have been passed on. It doesn’t set very many hips. I suspect it is triploid. I haven’t tried it as a male parent.
David,
Snowdrift being a triploid would explain my lack of success using it both as a seed parent and as the pollen parent. In 2010 I used three different pollen parents on it and only got 5 hips and 10 seeds. This year I used it’s pollen on 7 different plants and only got hips on two of them for only 66 seeds total. I never thought about it being triploid, I should measure it’s pollen to see if there is a mix of pollen grain sizes. I may have some in the freezer.
I have grown a number of seedlings of it from OP seeds and have a couple left from two years ago. They are slow growing and small but have been quite healthy so far.
I did have some Snowdrift pollen in the freezer and I took some measurements of it. For the most part they are in the tetraploid range but a few were in the diploid range, so it’s possible it could be a triploid. And notice all of the non-viable pollen grains in the pictures, that could be another indication that it is a triploid.
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Paul, you are certainly entitled to be very pleased with ‘Prairie Snowdrift’, it’s been a very good rose in my garden.
Nice looking flower Terry. As I am in Australia, in a hot part, how would or how does it hold up to the heat, This question also goes out to the 2 Pauls, this rose might never get here, but just interested.
David,
The plant I have is Snowdrift from Baileys Nursery, it is not the same plant that Paul O and Terry are talking about. They are talking about Prairie Snowdrift which is a white sport of Morden Blush. I don’t have Priarie Snowdrift but I had Morden Blush the past two seasons. I culled it this fall because it didn’t have very good disease resistance here.
While it can get hot here during the summer it probably doesn’t get as hot or as long here as it does for you. So I can’t really say how well either plant would do in your area.
Paul
Thanks Paul G for explaining it
[attachment 1221 888.JPG] Iknow that most of you guys don’t care about diploids but I am trying to develope a Prairie Snowdrifts look alike that is. One thing I like is that these plants are hardy as Therese Bugnet. They seem to be more fertile then tetraploids and It is great not to have grow out so many seeds to recover recessive genes.
I still have alot of work that I will have to do the get a good plant but here is a plant that gives an idea ((Rosa rugosa alba X R. woodsii)X Martin Frobisher. I crossed it last year with a (Rosa woodsiiX White Pavement) clone hoping to reduce the number od petals to help reduce balling, I am also looking for more scent and substance. Also it It is BS or mildew free but does get rust. I want rugosa easy growing.
What may surprise you is how did I get a high center. It appears that the plants get from a combination of the long cigar buds of Rosa rugosa with the curling back outer petals from Martin Frobisher. I think that this may have come from the unknown parent
??? That’s kind of rude; we talk about diploids a lot.
Personally, I cannot wait for new colors or better plants in the future from the northern prairie briar type hybrids. I think a salmon pink diploid briar type would be immensely popular.
Johannes,
I like your rose; do you have any pictures of it when it’s more open? Does it repeat? I also like the crosses you’ve made and I’m curious to see how they turn out.
I don’t think most breeders here dislike diploids, it just that the roses they want to work with are either triploids or tetraploids. I also like the fact that you can recover recessive genes much more quickly with diploids than you can with tetraploids. But contrary to what you’ve experienced, I found the diploids harder to work with and to be selective of what pollens they accept, especially the Rugosas and the Polyanthas. But like you, I’ve noticed hybrids seem to be easier to work with. I have a (Showy Pavement x R.blanda) that has been much more receptive than the pure rugosas have been. I have first year seedlings of it by (Marie Pavie x R.blanda) pollen and seeds this year from a cross of it with a mixture of Polyantha pollens. By contrast all of the pollinations this year on Darts Dash and Blanc Double de Coubert failed. I also have some first year seedlings of (R.blanda x Blanc Double de Coubert) that I’m curious to see what they look like once they bloom.
Sorry PJ the intent was not to be rude but realistic.
Paul I attched a picture when the flower is open. At this point they look like a typical Rosa rugosa. I too cross Rosa rugosa with R. woodsii/R. blanda to make them more receptive and hardier (i need it in zone 1b/2a). I too crossed these plants with polyanthas. I wasted much time crossing with ‘Orange Mothersday’. It may be a chimera because I only got throwbacks to what it sported from muddy pink. The petals were narrow and ragged and the plants looked like weak multiflora yellow and lanky. I am now getting better luck using triploids such as ‘Alexander Mackenzie’ and ‘John Davis’ lets see if the seed produce a diploid winner.
The future for me is in a diploid Rosa laxa (reblooms), and ‘Ames 5’. I prefure tall roses. For the shorties I am very happy working with ‘Metis’ and am starting to be please with a reblooming (might be incorrectly labled) ‘Prairie Rain’ (its Paul Olsen’s).
I should explain what my goals are:Flowers that look like a Tea. not HT, in form. The leaves should not be rugose and the stems should be red. I prefure the thorn to thornless and absolute hardiness is required. The closed I think that anyone has got to this stage is ‘Betty Will’ You guys want a reblooming diploid yellow? The seeds are in the fridge -there are triploid carriers of the reblooming gene that were crossed onto a complex hybrid that is non-carateniod cleaving and is an OK rebloomer. I ws forced to breed this OK guy over ten years. This year will tell if I get a prize or a bust. I have pict of the yellow gene donnor I know it is ugly but it for my climate maybe for my work is the best.
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yes Pauln this roset rebloom J
The flowers look nice, but like you say still quite Rugosa like and I can see where you would like to clean them up a bit.
My (Marie Pavie x R.blanda) isn’t very female fertile so I’ve been using it’s pollen on diploids and on a few triploids, but it’s only taken on the diploid (Showy Pavement x R.blanda). It did produce a few hips this year so I have some seeds from it. I can’t wait to see if they germinate and what they look like. I have a Rugosa that I thought was tetraploid but now I’m not so sure. I tried five different pollens this year with the triploids Snowdrift and Cuthbert Grant along with three of my own tetraploids – only the tetraploids took. It’ll be interesting to see what the offspring look like.
I’m not sure if you are offering us seeds of the yellow plant or if it’s a rhetorical question? I have Pax Apollo and I could send you some pollen of next summer. It’s probably not zone 1-2 hardy but I’m sure it’s as hardy as Ames 5. It’s been very vigorous for me and can get fairly large. I don’t have pictures of it but the flowers on mine were smaller and darker than what’s on HMF. I don’t believe the parentage listed either, based on its flowers and that it’s thornless, I believe it is a cross with a Boursault like Zitkala is listed as. I had Zitkala and it wasn’t nearly as vigorous as Pax Apollo so I finally culled it this year.
I’ve been growing Metis for a number of years but have only grown some OP seedlings of it. None of those panned out and I didn’t keep any of them. I have thought about using its pollen several times but never have. Several crosses I might make are (Showy Pavement x R.blanda) x Metis and Schneezwerg x Metis.