Making my list of roses I want to add this year and realized that with my interest in yellow, orange and purple I don’t have a good pink rose for hybridizing. I need something heat tolerant with good fragrance and at least semi-double.
Thanks
Joan Richardson
Although not the best for.number of seeds or germination rate, Lilian Austin can produce some very nice roses, with more petals and fragrance than herself. Also seems to work with other colors, so really variable. I have also had some luck with Princess Alexandra of Kent. I would think.both of these would do better for you than me because of warmer weather.
One I was really impressed.with last season is Moonlight in Paris. It isn’t just pink, variable. But can produce pink. very fragrant! Accepted.a.wide variety of pollens. I have some large seedlings.doing well that I extracted. I am still waiting on the germination of other seeds.
Oh yes, Zaide was really fragrant and set seeds that germinated fairly well.
Duane
I have found two pink china roses, Hermosa and La Vesuve. Has anyone used either of these? China roses perform well in my area.
Joan Richardson
Hermosa has a number of historical offspring, some from seed, some from pollen and a sport or two. Robert Rippetoe has raised some offspring from Le Vesuve seed.
Thanks Kim. I need to research the offspring and see which way I want to go. I can get either from ARE.
Joan Richardson
You’re welcome, Joan. Have you considered Madame Laurette Messimy? There are many offspring using it, too and ARE shows it in stock. Duchess de Brabant is one I would look at (also in stock at ARE and with MANY offspring). Viru’s Naga Belle is likely one to investigate, also. Carefree Beauty seems such a favorite there in Texas and it contains it, is in stock at ARE, also.
If you don’t mind a hybrid tea, Beverly (‘KORpauvio’) has very good heat tolerance, extremely good (strong and complex) fragrance, and very good disease resistance for a HT (though it is still far from disease free). Its pollen is very fertile, and ARE has it in stock.
I’ve only tried growing seed from ‘Le Vesuve’ a few times, and although the large seeds germinate very slowly and I didn’t keep any, the cultivar is so good overall (probably the best China here hands down) that it would be a crime for you not to give it a try. Its thorns are not to be trifled with, so give it some space to grow; to me, it seems to straddle the line between China and tea. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have much fragrance. You might give Spice (the Bermuda) a try if fragrance is more important; I haven’t tried growing its seeds yet, but it definitely produces hips. ‘Hermosa’ is not nearly so disease resistant as these two, but then, very few roses are; it is much more fragrant than ‘Le Vesuve’.
I had quite a few seedlings from Zaide last season as well (open pollinated, as a test), so I would concur that it germinates both easily and well, although none of those performed especially well once they were set outside. Only one or two bothered to flower as young seedlings.
For me, Princess Alexandra of Kent is usually a black spot nightmare, as good as the flowers can smell. Lilian Austin is healthier, though I don’t think it is exactly disease free here. Of the Austins, I think that Mike Shoup at ARE has introduced a number of varieties bred from Heritage.
Stefan
Check out ‘Basye’s Blueberry’
I played quite a bit with Blueberry decades ago. The only thing I retained was Joyberry. Perhaps Blueberry might produce things more suited elsewhere but for the West, there was just too much rust in its offspring. IT was clean but 99% of everything germinated from it rusted horribly. It has American species which thrive on rust, so… 'Joyberry' Rose
Favorite pink that is not my own?
Square Dancer, We Salute You… thats really about it.
If fragrane is important, skip Carefree Beauty. Set tons of hips but not fragrant.
Consider too “Dee Lish” wich Mike Shoup at A.R.E. has been using with some success. (See “Crawfish Etouffee” and “Fragrant Blush”)
Thanks for the reminder on Dee Lish Philip!
That was on my list, but didn’t make it into my stable last year.
Hopefully soon.
Duane
I’ve been using Spring Song (Riethmuller) but that’s unlikely to be available outside of Australia. It’s a seedling of Gartendirektor Otto Linne which may be worth a look.
Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. After researching pictures, comments, descendants and ancestry I have ordered Hermosa from ARE. I just love the fluffy blooms. AND, while I was at it I also ordered Ron’s Vision and Crawfish Etouffete. These three will add a lot of genes to my rose pool that I don’t have now.
Joan Richardson
I would love to hear an update on your experience with these roses, especially Crawfish Etouffete: the parentage is interesting to me.
Thanks! And good luck.
Duane
Duane
I will definitely update everyone on Crawfish Etouffee. I am really anxious to see the color and the parentage was interesting. Mike Shoup from ARE will be speaking to my local garden club in May so I am looking forward to picking his brain. If anyone in the Austin area is interested you are welcome to be my guest.
Joan Richardson
Oh, I forgot two.
So I WISH Pink Cupcake was a good parent, because its amazingly bullet-proof. Absolutely no diseases of any kind. It sets easily but never germinate, and the pollen sets too, but low germination. Strange. I may try again.
Betty Harkness is a really good parent. I am not sure if its considered “pink” though. Its halfway between the colors of Sexy Rexy and Livin Easy…
Have you tried extracting the seeds from Pink Cupcake? Some seeds that I didn’t have good success germinating did so with extraction. There have been a couple others, however, that wouldn’t, even with extraction. Might be worth a try though.
Duane
To be honest, no. I produce too much so things like that get pushed off as an expense of energy I dont want to utilize. It may be worth it in this case, however.
I used Sexy Rexy as a seed parent in a lot of crosses last year. So far very good germination. Fingers crossed for some good seedlings.