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My Approach to Pollination of Roses, Harvest of Seed and the Production of Seedlings, part 2.
By Paul Barden, January 2004

Some of the more productive seed parents I use:

'Abraham Darby': Good seed producer, accepts many pollens, also very fertile pollen donor.
'Rise 'N' Shine': Excellent seed producer. Never tried it as a pollen parent. Lots of pale colors, but the good seedlings are really good.
'Scarlet Moss': Good seed producer (they germinate well) but not compatible with all pollens. Excellent fertile pollen. Offspring often has great foliage.
'Penny Ante': Produces vast amounts of seed, germinates at about 85%, sometimes more. Will produce well-shaped Minis and some full-sized shrubs when crossed with shrubs.
'Sequoia Gold': Good seed parent, picky about pollen compatibility, high germination rates. Many pale yellows result, so you have to cull a lot.
'Sequoia Ruby': Outstanding seed producer, accepts pollen from almost anything, 90% germination rates. Pollen is fertile as well. Produces a wide range of colors in its progeny.
'Cardinal Hume': Accepts most pollen and forms seed easily. Very good germination rates, fertile pollen available.
'Orangeade': Fertile with pretty much everything, seeds germinate very well. Good pollen too.
'Tuscany Superb': A bit picky about the pollen it will work with, but lots of seed that germinates well most years. Seed must be cold stratified for full duration. Good pollen for most uses.
'Fairy Moss': Excellent seed parent, germination rates of up to 85% or so. Seeds germinate earlier than almost anything else I sow, so watch them closely during stratification.
'Dresden Doll': Excellent germination from these seeds. Not a lot of seeds per hip, but it forms seed easily for me when bred with other Mosses. Occasionally produces some very beautiful offspring.
'Mary Rose':A classic breeder, proven as both seed and pollen producer. Needs to be outcrossed with climbers and species.
'STW-1': Ralph Moore's seedling from 'Soeur Therese' X 'Wilhelm'. Few seeds per hip, but they germinate well. Picky about what pollen you put on it. Pollen is fertile as well. Great potential here for nice shrubs that bloom a lot.
'Golden Angel': A classic, proven breeder. Lots of seed that germinates well. Very impressionable and manifests traits of pollen parent readily.
'Joycie': An excellent seed producer! Lots of big seeds that are easy to process from hips. Germination usually over 70%, many seedlings well worth keeping. Often nearly thornless offspring. Takes pollen from most anything.
'Lilian Austin': Austin's salmon colored shrub from 1973. Fertile as both seed and pollen parent. Germination is usually over 50%, depending on the cross.
'Little Darling': Like 'Orangeade', a proven breeder that is highly fertile both ways. Tends to breed “lookalikes” but is worth using for wildly non-traditional crosses to get variation.
'Queen Elizabeth': Same comments apply as with 'Little Darling'.
'Bonica 82': An easy seed producer. I haven't tried the pollen, so I don't know about this one. Tends to produce lookalikes also, but some beautiful peach and soft yellows have been noted. Seedlings often have excellent vigor and growth habit.
'June Laver':Fairly easy to set seed with a variety of pollens. Will take pollen from very different cultivars. Slow to germinate compared to most, but germination is about 70% most of the time. Mated with shrubs will produce some good compact shrubs with strong coloring.
“0-47-19”: This is a cross of R. wichuraiana and 'Floradora' that is in the background of many of Ralph Moore's Miniatures. Produces an incredible amount of seed which germinates at about 50%. I haven't tried using the pollen, so I can't report on it. My goal is new Barbier-style Climbers with good remontancy, while keeping the lax cane habit.
'Duchesse de Montebello': A Gallica-Noisette hybrid. Sets seed readily with most pollens and the seed germinates at about 70 to 80%. Offspring has always been non-remontant for me, contrary to some reports from other breeders. Often very healthy and beautiful seedlings result.
'Sheri Anne': While this has been a very easy seed producer for me, I have stopped using it for now, as I feel there are better Miniatures to work with. 'Sheri Anne' tends to produce a lot of Minis that look the same. However, when crossed with shrubs, it can produce some interesting Floribunda-sized plants that bloom a lot. This rose will also produce a small percentage of green-tinted offspring.
'Marbree': This Portland Damask has been a good seed setter for me, and is a willing pollen parent as well. However, its offspring are often weak and non-remontant, especially when crossed with modern shrubs. Still I have had some very beautiful results.
There are also a few varieties that I have used for pollen only, since they have proven unsuitable as seed parents, either because they don't set seed well or it doesn't germinate, or both.
'St. Swithun': The Austin pink shrub. Pollen is not plentiful because of the doubleness of the bloom, but it is very fertile and produces some beautiful offspring.
'Buff Beauty': Sometimes sets seed, but with mixed results. Pollen works well on some things but not all. Still, worth working with as some of the offspring are very beautiful.
'Its Showtime!': A little known rose bred from 'Joycie' and 'Bon Silene'. (Classed as a HT, Ralph Moore, 1996) Very fertile pollen and its offspring are often very beautifully pigmented. (Peaches and peachy yellows)
'Crepuscule': For some reason this climbing Noisette hasn't been used as a parent much. Highly fertile pollen that works on almost everything. Offspring often have OGR form and rich coloring in a wide range of hues.
'Little Chief': A very dwarf Miniature. A reluctant seed parent, but highly fertile as a pollen parent. Has been used mostly as a parent for Miniatures, but I have begun mating it with some species and shrubs.
'Out of Yesteryear': An outstanding pollen parent. Produces some fascinating shrubs no matter what it is crossed with. Offspring often have excellent foliage and amazing vigor. Bloom form is often very double OGR form. Drawback: most offspring are in pastel hues.
'The Yeoman': A peachy Austin shrub from 1969 involving 'Constance Spry' in its breeding. Highly fertile pollen, but sets seed reasonably well too. Offspring often have strong Myrrh fragrance.
'Tradescant', 'The Prince', 'Prospero': I have grouped these Austin reds together, as they behave similarly in many respects. Pollen is often sparse, but can produce some beautiful offspring. Mate them with vigorous plants to get some vigor out of them. (The Austin reds have been inbred too much already and lack vigor, in my opinion)
'Lavender Pinocchio': An oddly colored rose bred from 'Grey Pearl'. Pollen is highly fertile and often results in some odd and wonderfully colored progeny. Well worth experimenting with.
'Precious Dream': A third generation Bracteata Hybrid from Ralph Moore. ('Orangeade' X 'Out of Yesteryear') Highly fertile pollen that seems to be compatible with most anything. My first work with it was 2003, so I have yet to evaluate the results. Considering its growth habit and pedigree, it could produce some real magic.
'Mons. Tillier': Highly fertile (though not plentiful) pollen that appears to work on many things. I am using this to get around Hybrid Tea genes and all the problems associated with them.

Here is a list of roses that haven't played a big role in my work yet, but will be put into service in the 2004 breeding season:

'Carolyn Dean': Ralph Moore's remontant Rambler with the flame-orange buds opening to single peach-pink blooms. This is in the pedigree of many of the Moore Miniatures. This Rambler is thornless and has beautiful foliage resembling Peach leaves. I will use it as a seed parent. The goal is to create fully remontant Ramblers with double OGR style blooms and, if I'm lucky, thornless canes as well.
'Orangeade' X R. fedschenkoana: A seedling given to me by Kim Rupert for breeding purposes. No results to report yet, but I have hopes this could prove useful. You likely know that genetic testing has revealed that R. fedschenkoana is one species that contributed to the creation of the Damask class.
F2 seedling from 'Basye's Amphidiploid': This is supposedly a cross of R. rugosa and R. moschata (R. abyssinica?). My plants are F2 seedlings from the original Amphidiploid. One is a weak but remontant single pink and the other is a rampant non-remontant single pink. Pollen parent only.
'Muriel': Ralph Moore's first Bracteata hybrid. (R. bracteata X 'Guinée'.) A semi-double pink climber. Pollen is fertile and abundant. Some very good roses have come from 'Muriel' and I plan on exploring it in my own work. The first results will be seen this Spring (2004).
'Cotton Candy': A once-blooming Rambler with R. multibracteata in its background. (R. wichuraiana X R. multibracteata seedling) This is used as a seed producer, and is one parent of the Miniature breeder 'Little Chief'. A percentage of its offspring are remontant when a remontant pollen parent is used. 2.5 inch semi-double medium pink blooms.
'Marchesa Boccella', 'Baronne Prevost': (These and any other Damask Perpetuals I have on hand.) Early results indicate that when mated with modern shrubs, a large percentage of the seedlings will be non-remontant. However, the Damask Perpetual shrub habit is well worth pursuing.
'Montecito' F2: This is one of several seedlings from open pollinated seed of 'Montecito', reputedly a cross of R. brunonii and R. gigantea. My seedlings produces large panicles of pale yellow single blooms about 1.5 inches across. The plant is highly disease resistant and I hope it may pass this quality on to its offspring. I also plan on working directly with R. gigantea in the near future.

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