I have open pollinated seed from the following species available to anyone who requests them:
R. arkansana
R. foliolosa
R. virginiana
R. nutkana
R. pisocarpa (I think)
and the non-native R. soulieana as well. Email me your request.
trospero at gmail dot com
Paul B
non-native R. soul? Im confused by the meaning. There is a native one?!?
Rosa virginina makes a wonderful landscaping species, btw. I really think it is a useful species for breeding. I hope someone runs with it.
Michael,
I just meant to point out that it was the one non-native species I had to offer, amongst a group of North American natives.
I am finally working with my R. virginiana this year. I neglected it for years because it won’t set seed with ANY pollen I use on it. So, its a matter of using its pollen, or not using it at all. And yes, it makes one of the most handsome shrubs you could possibly hope for.
Ah, I see. Thanks, Paul.
Yeah, I used Rosa virginiana solely as a seed parent in year 1 with it. I quickly learned my lesson. It LOVES to abort anything intentional. It will set OP though. It was hard to do too because the extrmely silty pollen gets all over the male parts quickly. So, I learned my lesson and used it as a male only.
I wish I still owned it because its a very unique species. It is healthy, tolerant of so many things, and it has a grace about it that a lot of species lack. The canes are oddly flexible. The foliage alone makes it a nice backdrop landscape plant. Its tetraploidy is also an ease factor. My eventual goal was to merge it with modern tetraploid wichurana types. People say that it picks up new pigments in breeding easily. It would be good to find out how the saturation in seedlings respond though.
Several years ago I picked up a Virginiana from a reliable nursery that was described as a Double Maroon Virginiana. This is a company that specializes in roses of American origin, so I’m guessing it originated in the US. Mine turned out to be single maroon. I guess they were propagating from seed & expected it to breed true. The original plant died, entirely my fault, but seedlings from its pollen have very good saturation. Two were recurrent, two not. The next year the Virginiana on offer was the pale pink, of which I have the op seeds. Of the seedlings from the maroon, the two recurrent were shrubby, the non recurrent have long canes with one producing a spray of about ten buds at about five feet, also well saturated. This one is planted next to a heavily blackspotted Mme Hardy, but stayed perfectly clean in a season of heavy spotting. The one yet to bloom also stayed clean. The non-recurrent were cane hardy in a very cold winter two years ago. Very nice considering the mom was a yellowish pot mini that didn’t survive.
So my opinion is that you could expect reasonable hardiness & really good saturation even with a small population of seedlings.
Interesting that virginiana has a bad reputation as a mother. I have maybe two dozen hips all from different crosses onto it this season. Beauty of a plant, indeed.
Don,
I think it is simply because there are individuals that don’t play nice as female parents. I am sure there are individuals that are perfectly good seed bearers, mine just ain’t one of 'em!
Maybe you guys should try and get the good seed bearer Don has and the good pollen parent Paul has together to line breed the species so it’s good both way 
I got mine from either Pickering or Hortico. I cannot recall which. If Pickering had it, I likely sourced it from there out of preference but I do recall ordering from both at the identical time that year.
The new Rosa virginiana that I am growing out in my new garden is sourced from Forest Farm (lovely people btw, nice outfit). I also sourced a new Rosa rubiginosa and Rosa pomifera from them last year. They were all sold in tree tubes lol. I am hoping that both areas Forest Farm and Pickering/Hortico sourced theres from different origins. I am thinking this is likely except for Rosa pomifera. Uhm… one can also purchase Rosa pomifera from Joy Creek Nursery upon request. If any of you visit the Portland Metro area in the future, I highly suggest going there and walking their gardens. It is beautiful, relaxing and free. It is located in Scappoose, Oregon, up in the hills above the Columbia River.
One of my extremely long term goals is to create a repeat bloomer with huge hips good for tea, honey jam and beer! I focused on rugosas first but I do not feel they are the answer. I think that there are better avenues that do not include the difficult genetic nature of Rosa rugosa. I wanted to invent something as a gift for my friend that brews and works in agriculture. I think anything with a yellow tone would work better in order to attract bees. One thing to consider is that some varieties attract honey bees and some attract …flies =/
Paul, what is the source of your Rosa virginiana?
Mine was grown from seed sent to me from a friend in Colorado about 11 years ago.
Paul, it would be nice to see your R. pisocarpa if you have shots. I’m beyond the southern extreme of its range, so I’m interested in your selection. Does your plant have pea-shaped hips?
“Does your plant have pea-shaped hips?”
Well, sort of, yes. More like a Pea that someone sat on; kind of concave at the stem end. I can get a pic for you, give me a minute. In fact, they are kind of barrel shaped…
I meant concave at the blossom end:
lol…they remind me of a jelly fish!
They remind me of Habaneros.
And I doubt they taste like either!
Thanks, Paul. Those hips do have an interesting shape. I see you plant doesn’t have the deep reddish mahogany that mine does. I’ve heard the hips are supposed to ripen to same deep maroon color, but the hips on your plant are still orange-red and look pretty close to ripe.