Thursday, September 29, 2011

A Superb Yellow Seedling

Three or four years ago, I pocketed a couple of ripe rose hips from a rose in the vineyard at Hartwood Winery next door ... I think the rose was Peace, but I'm not positive.  Most of the seeds in those hips sprouted and grew into puny, spindly reject roses.  One of them grew well, and continues to do VERY well in the garden.



This rose never fails to attract attention from garden visitors.  Its flowers are medium butter-yellow, and they don't fade much as they age.

The brown petals on these two buds are the only damage this rose shows in response to a whole week of damp, rainy weather that we have had.


The best characteristic of this rose is its foliage ... large, dark green leaves that are incredibly disease resistant.  I took this photo of the bush yesterday afternoon (and all the rest of the ones in this post, too), and you see leaves clear to the bottom of the plant, with almost no blackspot in sight.



This rose provides a perfect example of why it's important to evaluate promising roses for a number of years before making a decision on them.  Its first year in the garden, this one was out-performed by another seedling planted beside it and I almost dug it out in favor of the other seedling.  Now, three years later, this rose has become a star ... and the other one is gone.



Next week, I will be taking cuttings from this rose, to propagate plants to give to other gardeners ... so they can grow this rose and see if it does as well in their gardens as it does for me.  If it continues to do so well, expect to find it named and registered and available for sale in two years or so.



A shrubby rose with yellow flowers and disease-resistant foliage?  There was a time in rose breeding when this was seen as the impossible dream.  It's hard to believe that I may have achieved it by growing open-pollinated seeds from a hip that I snapped from one of my neighbor's roses.

I see that a few of you are planning to follow along and grow rose seeds with me this winter.  If you missed the first installment of this soon-to-be series on how to grow roses from seed, scroll down to the post right before this one to get started.

14 comments:

  1. When I saw that rose on Saturday, you know it stopped me in my tracks!!! It was GORGEOUS!!! I would love to be one of your test gardeners!!!! If not, I still want one!!! :) Going to try to grown some of mine from seed, have tons of hips. Let's see what happens!!! Have a great day Connie! Donna :)

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  2. It really is lovely, and seeing a rose with healthy, greenery beneath it is always pleasing to the eye. Good luck with this one. She's a beauty!

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  3. Such a beautiful rose and how cool that you took a chance on it! I will leave the rose growing to you, and benefit from your hard work and knowledge by buying your wonderful roses!

    Kat :)

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  4. What a beauty this is. I love the creamy yellow! I hope it continues to do well!

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  5. That pale yellow reminds me of a butter mint!

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  6. She is a beauty! That color is just like butter cream frosting!
    You always make me smile...thanks, Connie!
    xo, misha

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  7. That is just a gorgeous yellow rose. And it doesn't fade much? Most of them do! xo Diana

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  8. Wow, Connie that is a spectacular yellow rose -- mostly because it's just such a beautiful soft color -- it glows.
    And I LOVE its story.
    What a survivor, eh?
    Cass

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  9. OOOH! I cant wait to try! Ill have to snag soem of my parents rose hips. I spied them through the window the other day and thought of you!

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  10. The soft yellows are always favorites for me. My husband loves them, too. He gave me yellow roses when our son was born.

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  11. Looks beautiful. A lot like my "Carefree Sunshine". I think yours is a little creamier though.

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  12. Connie- what a gorgeous rose-- I think yellow roses are especially beautiful and have always wanted to own one. As always- your photos are beautiful--
    Vicki

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