I have been lurking and asking questions and talking about hybridizing for a couple of years now and I thought I had achieved what may be my first milestone.
It would seem that I should have a hord of seedlings growing right now given how much I have read, asked questions about and talked with people about hybridizing.
In truth, I have yet to actually hybridize a rose that is currently alive. My first 2 hybrids from last year died in a hail storm.
I was replanting one of my seedlings Autumn Sunset x Apple Jack when a very familar smell hit my nose. It was most definetly the R. eglanteria smell or ‘apple scent’. I isolated the seedling and went back later for a snill. Most definetly R. eglanteria.
I got fairly excited. If I am smelling R. eglanteria then it must be from Apple Jack. Since it has a good dose of the ‘apple scent’ it must be a sucessful cross.
Then I started thinking, perhaps Westerland has R. eglanteria in its background. Sure enough it does and not very far back. Drat. R. eglanteria scented leaves tells me little. It still could be a self polinated AS.
Does Autumn Sunset have apple scented leaves? I would go check but I am living in Idaho now with only my new seedlings to keep me company.
Guess I will wait for the first bloom and see what happens. Does Apple Jack have any traits that it is prone to pass on?
-Steve