I received several (Rugosa #3 x R. glauca) x OP seedlings from Joan Monteith and one (ruglauca-1) is now in bloom. The picture doesn’t show the greyish cast to the leaves due to lighting. I’m assuming that since this one is blooming so early it will be repeat blooming. I’m looking for siblings that will also be repeat bloomers to cross with and/or self this seedling and select for the grey coloring. This one should show great disease resistance and hardiness.
So how hard is it to work with R. glauca as a pollen parent?
No blue foliage in evidence. This has been my experience.
Joan Monteith was the one who was the breeder of these seedlings so I can’t speak to how hard it is to use R. glauca as a pollen parent.
Of the 8 seedlings I received from Joan, this one has the least amount of grey color in the leaves. Under lights it does actually have a slight grey coloring that doesn’t show in this pic. One seedling has a good amount of grey on the top surface of the leaves and purle coloring on the bottom of the leaves. The rest of the eight have a varying degree of greyness. Joan also gave me a ton of seeds from this cross that I will germinate this winter and select for 1) grey coloring in the leaves and 2) repeat bloom. Then it will be crossing siblings and select again for those traits.
I think selection for the blue foliage is the only way to go if you want to retain that character. It seems easily lost.
I think you are probably right about that character being easily lost Robert. Luckily Joan has provided me with lots of seeds and I’m hoping that I’ll have some blue foliage seedlings that will turn up. I have a handful of new seedlings from seeds that she sent me and two look to have blue-ish foliage but they are still small so I’ll have to wait. If I get a handful of siblings that have the blue foliage I hope by interbreeding that the blue leaf color can become dominant through selection. I’m hoping that the blue color is not linked to the once blooming trait!
The seed parent to this rose has only a faint blue cast to it. Enough that if you know you are looking for a glauca hybrid it
Joan,
Have you tried to measure the leaflets of your putative rugosa hybrids?
In a recent paper on rugosa tetraploid induction :
http://www.rosehybridizers.org/forum/message.php?topid=13812&rc=1&ui=1716071912
they presented interesting morphological characteristics of tetraploids induced in Martin FobisherX(Old BlushXMartin Fobisher). Original diploid clone and induced tetraploids have a difference in a number of leaflets in a composite leaf, but most striking is a difference in a width/length ratio of terminal leaflets. In a original clone this ratio is 0.53, while in tetraploids it is 0.73. I have several putative tetraploids of R.rugosa alba but the ratio is only of 0.63. I wonder if your N3 have rounder leaflets than your starting material and what is the width/length ratio.
#3 is a seedling; however it was used in a batch of other rugosa seeds as part of a chromosome doubling experiment, treating the seedlings at the cotyledon or few-leaf stage. As they grew out, I got several seedlings that had distinctly different leaves on one branch. However, #3 has pretty much the same leaf type all over, although a friend (who looked over the leaves) thought #3 had leafves that might be tetraploid. #3 produces pollen of the appropriate size for being a tetraploid. It also has seeds twice the size of normal rugosa seeds. BUT, one of the rugosa hips (it was OP seed a friend sent me) that came in the batch that #3 grew from, also had seeds twice the size as normal. I ended up mixing all the seeds together (large and normal ones). In hindsight I wished I
Rob,
The blue color is definitely not linked to repeat bloom, as I have a repeat blooming glauca hybrid here. It is also very fertile. I can send you some pics if you’re interested. It doesn’t have the typical R glauca flowers, they’re more rounded, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches (I think),semi-double white with some pink at the edges. The foliage is fairly R glauca.
It came from Hugh Skinner in Manitoba and was labelled simply
“reblooming glauca” After 4 or 5 years it’s starting to sucker a little.
Koren in Saskatoon
The repeat blooming Rosa glauca from Skinner’s Nursery that Koren refers to, I call ‘Skinner’s Red Leaf Perpetual’. Hopefully, that name will be okay with Hugh. I think I’ve mentioned before that I think it could be a F2 ‘Carmenetta’ selection. I’ve recently shipped a plant to David Zlesak with some other Canadian developed rose material, and in a few days (if not already) it should be in the States. Since it’s fertile both ways, there’s lots of potential to work with it developing roses having purple-red foliage.
Paul,
That name sounds much better, the word perpetual is very attractive! Do you know what the ploidy is? It has tons of rugosas around it that bloom at the same time, but there is also alot of Morden and Explorers too.
This shrub is only 4 feet tall, and has had no winter dieback yet. It has a nice pleasing upright shape, and holds it’s flowers in small clusters at the end of the branches, and the resulting hips sort of droop and are bright red, quite ornamental in a winter shrub and perennial border.
The sucker I noticed this year is inches away from the base, not 6 feet like some others I have! (thank God!)
Koren in Saskatoon
Koren,
I’d love to see some pics if you have them available. I’ll send you my email via your email link here. ‘Skinner’s Red Leaf Perpetual’ sounds like a wonderful plant and one to start working with in a breeding program. I can’t wait for it to be available here in the US! I have more (Rugosa #3 x R. glauca) x OP seedlings that have germinated and a few have grey-ish leaves. These have less rugose leaves than the ones with the greener colored leaves. Nothing very glauca colored to date.
Thanks for the information Paul.
Rob