What are some good miniatures that are easy for beginners to work with, easily setting seed and producing fertile pollen? Any with blackspot resistance and some fragrance as well as cold hardiness? I don’t have a goal in mind for such a project, but I’d like to practice with some easy subjects. Thank you.
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Wow, Paul, that’s great! You must have been reading my mind 
I added ‘Little Darling,’ ‘Pinstripe,’ and ‘Sheri Anne’ to my rose orders. Thank you for your helpful article, Paul.
I’ve heard that Golden Angel is a great parent. I got that last season. I use Queen Elizabeth for everything now.
The photo I saw of Golden Angel was very nice. It was interesting to see that one of its parents is a Brownell rose.
I can see why you use QE for everything, Enrique–she is a very prolific parent! Can any other rose match her for sheer numbers of offspring?
Oh I don’t know. I think that some roses aren’t really great as a parents. Take a look at Peace. Most hybrids from it aren’t as great as I’ve seen. I remember someone, Henry I think, who said that many hybridizers will wrongly list the parentage by using famous roses.
But I use Queen Elizabeth because many people here say they frequently use it, because it accepts traits easily. It makes good amount of good seed. Not only that I’ve always have Queen Elizabeth-- my mom would kill me if I uprooted the plant. I want to get a nice RMV free clone. But she unreasonably objects to that. Especially when I am the one who would be buying it.
Enrique
I have the same family/friend/neighbor problem, Enrique. It’s amazing how people become so attached to another’s rose =)
-Mike
If you are looking to create miniatures Sexy Rexy has miniatuers in it’s background, is winter hardy, reportedly has great disease resistance and will give you minis when crossed with other minis. One plant should give you more flowers to breed on than you’ll know what to do with. If you are looking for minis to breed on (usually for space reasons), yes, Sherri Anne has been used extensively and with great success in breeding. You also might consider using one of its offspring which already claims the qualities you are asking about. A list of the offspring and their descriptions can be found at www.helpmefind.com