Hello all. Have a question. One of my seedlings (OP) has an odd center. Her first bloom was what I will call normal and beautiful if I might say so myself 
) However her 2nd bloom has me confused. She buds in a very dark red, opens red, and then turns to a deep dark pink. Her petals are very thick and wavy. Her first bloom had more petals than the 2nd with the 2nd bloom showing a green center looking somewhat like leaf growth or maybe petals that didnāt turn red/pink and or open?? Is this normal? Any thoughts on what it might be ?? Thank you. Cheri
Hi Cheri - check out the forum postings from earlier this month on vegetative centers.
Thank you for the info. It has been quite helpful. This little lady has been named after my niece, so I will be keeping her. Her 1st bloom did not have a vegetative center. I hope it is due to too much nitrogen and the weather, after her 1st bloom I began feeding my roses Miracle Grow for roses, maybe it over nitrogened my little gal. (Fingers Crossed) plus, we had ice on the porch one morning last week, prior to her bud openeing, our day temps had been reaching the upper 60s-80s, so maybe going from 60 one day, 80 the next with freezing temps at night might have been the problem. Iāll be keeping a close eye on her, she has 3 more buds getting ready to bloom. This morning 2 of my āChristopher Marlowā buds opened and both have the same vegetative center, not sure if he is prone to it or not I donāt recall noticing it in him last year. I threw in a pic of her 1st bloomā¦ it was so perfect ) Thank you again. Cheri
Cheri - I wish you luck with this rose. Sounds like a real bloom machine. Out of 2 seedlings Iāve had bloom so far this year, one had the veg. center. But since it had about 60 petals I think itās a possible keeper. Itās an op Henry Kelsey. Sounds like youāre having extreme weather. It has definitely been a difficult growing year. I keep wheeling my seedlings in and out of the barn to avoid the rain. Iāll be happy to get them in the ground this weekend. Thanks for the pics. Lori
WOW! That is a lot of petals ) I have yet to have a bloom with that many. The most I have had is a 16 petal bloom thus far, out of approx. 40 seedlings. I gave away 11 of my seedlings to friends/family and have not yet updated their progress. Only 9 out of the 40 bloomed. The others still have not had a single bloom. I couldnāt wait to get my remaining 29 seedlings planted and ended up doing it around the end of April. My āgreenhouseā is in my dining roomā¦ with 40 growing seedlings the space had become limited and it was time they find their home out doors. I have not yet lost one. There are 2 that look pretty sad, may or may not make it. I figure I will leave them and see what they do come next spring. When I started this project last August, I didnāt think I would even get one seed to germinateā¦ and then I had near 100 germinations. Lost quite a few of them until I started using the peroxide/water solution for watering. After that I only lost a couple. Good luck with your babies hope the weather clears up. Cheri
Thanks for the luck, I really need it since itās still raining here. The leaves on the babies are red instead of green from lack of sun.
Thatās funny that you werenāt expecting many germinations. I was surprised this year too with about 200 germinations after having only about 20 the year before. The one year olds were mostly rugosas and have bloomed for the first time this year - and there are some surprises among them with color and growth habit. They are from seeds from hips I collected whenever I came across an unusual rugosa.
I use my dining room also as a greenhouse after they come out from under the lights. It is a relief to get them outside. Iāve never used the peroxide/water solution. Could you tell me the mix ratio? Thatās also a good idea to give some seedlings away, itās a great way of getting other gardeners into hybridizing and roses. Lori