R. arkansana x Applejack

General Discussion
1

Bonjour!
I have thought to share some photos of the first flowering of my R. arkansana x Applejack. This cross was made 2012 July 21 on six flowers, and September 29 six red fruits (with 38 seeds total) have been harvested with my others crosses. I have just realized this spring that it took only 70 days of maturation instead of 90 to 110 days normally. I have repeated this cross last week to see if I will have next year the same result in following the same method The seeds have been sowed October 20 and kept at room temperature for eight weeks. After that ten weeks in fridge at 4Ā°C. And February 25, first germination has been followed by ten others. Maybe these details will be useful for someone.

This spring all sowings were eaten by the rodents and only some stems were saved. Three sowings flowered but two of them had deformed flowers. On the pictures the flower and the leaf at right, on my hand, are the bigger copy of my R. arkansana at left, and yes this seedling has apple scent of Applejack with three or four others among my 11seedlings, a very nice surprise! Probably next year I will have some others surprisesā€¦!

R. arkansana x Applejack #1.JPG
R. arkansana x Applejack #2.JPG
R. arkansana x Applejack #3.JPG

1 Like
2

Congrats! Thanks for posting. Wish I could smell them.

3

Very nice! Does your arkansana accept foreign pollen readily? I have some arkansana seedlings but all have arkansana as the pollen parent. My plants have been reluctant to accept foreign pollen and produce viable seed.

Mark

4

A great cross! Perhaps you will start a whole new line of winter hardy (zone 3) repeat blooming roses!
One has only to think of the success Henry Marshall had incorporating R. arkansana into his Parkland series.
Congrats!

5

Interesting cross.

But compare the quality of this flower to ā€˜Assiniboineā€™, which is ā€˜Donald Priorā€™ x Rosa arkansana. Big difference. So perhaps it matters regarding the direction of the cross to get the ultimate size and colour of the flowers.

Rosa arkansana still has potential to use in breeding programs. One thing I would like to see is species hybrids developed with Rosa acicularis and Rosa virginiana. Then use them in breeding programs with Rugosas and modern shrub roses.

Henry Marshall never used Rosa arkansana, as far as I know, initially in a breeding program with yellow Floribundas or Hybrid Teas. This might be problematic to do because of potential disease problems. Still, it would be interesting to do to see how yellow and peach coloured flowers in the progeny would sort out, for example, using ā€˜Sunspriteā€™.

Another route to take is crossing Rosa arkansana with Rosa gallica, which would be the development of very tough and drought resistant roses. Initially my thinking was to do this, but now Iā€™m more inclined to use ā€˜Assiniboineā€™. Which I have done with ā€˜Tuscany Superbā€™, and I think I have a single seedling of this cross.

6

Thank you all for your comments!
Mark, only other pollens which I used on R. arkansana in 2013 are: R. fedtschenkoana (5 flowers =18 seeds), Prairie Peace (5 flowers = 109 seeds) and J5 (2 flowers = 10 seeds). No germination this year, I hope to have next year some results at least among the 109 seeds of Prairie Peaceā€¦ to follow!
A few weeks ago I added another amount of pollen of Applejack on some flowers of this sowing for perhaps intensifying the color of the flower and the apple scent of the foliage. My intention for the next year is to use my Ā«R. Arkansana x ApplejackĀ» with my seedlings of Ā«Ross Rambler #3 X Louise BugnetĀ» and one of my Basyeā€™s Purple OP. And possibly with a cross makes last year of Ā«King J X Rita BugnetĀ» who should flower from here a few days. Certainly of pink color and with flower doubles according to the chubby bud.

7

I made crosses in both directions this year with an arkansana clone received from Larry Davis and an OP virginiana seedling from seeds furnished by Dave Wolfe. Iā€™ve already collected the seeds from arkansana and the hips on virginiana are ready. I also have a single hip from pollen of that arkansana on a seedling from Henry Kuska that has a lot of acicularis in it. Iā€™m in a very hot climate, so I may be creating roses that will be miserable here, but all of the parents seem happy enough here.

Mark