See my blog this morning. I am talking a bit about working with Ralph Moore’s Rugosa hybrid “Magseed” a sister seedling to ‘Linda Campbell’.
Link: paulbarden.blogspot.com/
Hi Paul
Just wanted to congratulate you on the beautiful pictures in “Naming the Rose”. It helped me get through the long winter here in Denmark 
Cheers
S
Oh, thank you very much, S
I’m interested in hybrid rugosas also. I plan on buying Moore’s Striped Rugosa and Topaz Jewel soon (…even more so because helpmefind claims TJ is diploid).
I suspect R. rugosa x Suzanne (or reciprocal) will work nicely. I attempted a couple of crosses this year and have hips setting. Suzanne has a fragrance that closely mimics that of rugosas and the flowers have a bright UV florescence.
Jon,
Be aware when you combine Rugosas with Spinosissimas like ‘Suzanne’, the foliage can be attractive but the canes can be viciously prickly. Also, Rosa rugosa seeds germinate much easier than ‘Suzanne’. So Rosa rugosa should be used as the pistillate parent. You know you may have sterility problems in the progeny when trying to carry such a hybrid any further, right?
Oh. You mean the meiosis thing? No, I didn’t think that far ahead. I consider most f1 hybrid rugosas to be difficult to work with anyways (but sometimes one has a lucky break I guess).
I have a number of (Suzanna X OP) (seed parent) crossed with (Bonavista X OP), my ((Theresa Bugnet X OP) X OP), and with “mixed rugosa pollen”. They were from my 2005 crop. So far none of them has flowered.
Four years and they still haven’t flowered? I guess I can’t say much, I have a small dainty found species that hasn’t bloomed for me yet and it’s been almost that long. But yeah, your crosses sound exciting. Is your suzanne x op fragrant? (I’m wondering if the fragrance carries through).
Jon, regarding fragrance, I am a retired chemist. My nose is shot.
I would of bet a lot of money that the (Bonavista X OP) crosses would of flowered quickly. (Of course, they could be selfs.)
Hopefully, this year.
There was a published research paper that reported that roses could be repeat blooming even if they do not bloom the first “x” number of years. I say “x” because this is from memory.
RE ‘Topaz Jewel’: I wouldn’t waste my time trying to work with it in breeding. Ralph Moore (who created it) attempted to further that line of breeding and found ‘Topaz Jewel’ to be nearly totally sterile. He got only one halfway decent hybrid from it: ‘Peach Candy’ which is a mediocre rose at best. I seriously doubt there is any hidden treasure in ‘Topaz Jewel’ to be found.
Jon, breeding roses takes a lot of patience and a bit of neglect. It may help if you’re forgetful and slightly untidy. I have 2 seedlings with fat buds right now. I believe that this is at least the 5th year for one and at least the 4th year for the other. I have had some which did not bloom until the 7th year, and probably a few which have never bloomed. I’m pretty sure these won’t be repeat bloomers, but if they have enough good qualities I may use them as parents since they do have repeaters as seed parents.
Peter