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Welcome to the July edition of my web site. (Perhaps this month's feature should be titled "Why Aren't You Out In Your Garden?!") I'm very pleased to be offering a new article writtin by Sean McCann of Ireland, who most of you will recognize as a regular contributor to the ARS monthly magazine, 'American Rose'. My thanks also to Rich Baer, who supplied the excellent photographs for this article. By the way, you can still access the past 2 front page articles by clicking on the 'June', and 'May' headlines to your left. Don't forget, for tips on rose culture, pruning, propagation and history, see "Other resources on this site". Any time you want to return to this page, click on the "thorn icon" in the margin at the upper left corner. Enjoy! An
Introduction to Some of My Roses Here are all the new little roses. In all their glory. Even the tiniest looks beautiful now. Even mildew doesn't cause a problem because in my little greenhouse (8ft. x 12ft) everything is so crammed together that some trouble could not be avoided. This has been the same now for well over 20 years. In that time I have bred countless new roses, many of which never went into general distribution. But the early years provided me with something to bounce my ideas into the future.
I
bred it from a greenhouse rose that I got in a bouquet one day. The
name of the rose is Belinda (not to be confused with the hybrid musk
of the same name). It is a small medium sized bloom with a bright orange
colour. I crossed this with a seedling from a McGredy recommendation
to breeders called Maxi, a red floribunda, and Joyfulness, a British
bred orange floribunda. From these came Bloomsday. Great breeding lines.
Three
years later I had another great parent rose which was named for our
eldest daughter, Siobhan. Here again I was still using Maxi. This is
a beautiful rose; small, medium 20 petalled bloom. Colour is red with
a yellow reverse. These two roses have proved to be the best of the large roses that I have grown - and they as well as their parents have proved to be the ones that I have built my line on. Among the best breeders in my mini line - all which have attachments to the bigger line - are Lady in Red and Kiss'n'Tell. These have been wonderful providers over the years of colorful, disease resistant roses.
I am often asked which rose gives me the greatest satisfaction - that stumps me. I enjoy them all. No doubt though that the surprise of all is Little White Lies. This was a totally undistinguished seedling in the greenhouse; tiny and a gray white in colour. But it kept greeting me every day when I looked over those little roses. I got the message. It was the same one that Crazy Dottie used give me in its early days - it was a bloom a day smiling little rose. Little White Lies is different in some ways - it is a massive explosion of bloom when grown tightly in a hanging basket. It
is the most successful roses that I have grown and that have been aimed
at growing in a hanging basket. This is an area that has not been discovered
really by rose breeders. The message usually goes out that ground cover
roses are ideal in this situation. They are in many ways but they get
too enthusiastic impetuous and energetic. A more controlled rose has
been my aim. A few years ago I had a lovely one - that is still in the
Justice catalogue - is is called Flower basket (named in an effort to
jump on the bandwagon created by Flower Carpet!). One
other area for consideration has been the climbing miniatures. I got
into these by accident. Somewhere a climbing gene got in among my breeding
roses and I have had boxes of seedlings from non climbing parents exuberantly
taking over the seed flats. I am not complaining because among the roses
I have eventually bred is SWALK. This is a marvelous grower to about
seven foot, controlled, good disease resistance, and masses of a lovely
red with just a hint of traces of silver on the reverse. It is so good
that one day I expect to see someone showing it and winning with it.
At right: 'S.W.A.L.K.', a climbing miniature. My greenhouse is a jumble of everything. Shrubs, H.T.'s, singles, floribundas, OGR shapes in miniatures from deep cup to cup’n’saucer shapes. Yes Spring is a time of revelation, elation and more dreams. A pity Spring doesn't come more often in the year! Sean
McCann
There
have been |
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One
leading American breeder took a couple of the super baskets from Justice
to look it over - but so much for hopes and promises - when I went to
his huge breeding operation I saw my little basket left to one side,
dried out and dead. I have the original baby and want to get it started
again just to show that basket roses can make it. 
