There's a lot behind Night Owl which might result in some interesting things. R. Soulieana is in quite a few decent roses Tom Carruth created, Night Owl being one. If it performs well for you, how you have to grow it, you might get some nice seedlings from it. So far, only two have been reported on Help Me Find; Kathy Strong's Captain Jack and Carruth's Diamond Eyes. The number of petals in your seedlings is going to be affected by the genetics of what else you cross it with. Your more double HTs could give you some double, mauve shrubs, perhaps even more climbers. You'll have to see how the genes shuffle themselves when the seedlings grow. Kim

I looked on HelpmeFind advanced search - I didn't see any progeny!!!

I was thinking of Memorial Day, Betty White and Paradise Found.

I definitely want to to for the more full flower. Maybe I should rethink Night Owl. :)
Carol

You don't have to use the Advanced Search, Carol. Click on the "Lineage" tab. Go to "Descendents by Generation" and it will list the two I mentioned. Memorial Day has been used rather nicely it appears, by Brad Jalbert. Betty White only has a climbing sport to her credit so far and Paradise Found has none, yet. I would think any of them could create something neat with Night Owl.

Of course, there will be a number of single to semi double seedlings. That's Nature's way of guarantying fertility. Seedlings will often increase in their number of petals with maturity, so something with perhaps fifteen or so, may mature into twenty-five. Don't give up on them too soon. If the plant is healthy, vigorous, of attractive foliage, growth and color, it may well be worth breeding further generations with. Using Night Owl could well be engineering in health, vigor and saturated color in on the ground floor. I'd think it might make an interesting starting point.

I understand your desire for more double seedlings, however using a less double seed parent might well produce more seedlings than one of the more double because of the greater fertility of a less double bloom. You may also have greater disease resistance because of what created Night Owl. It's closer to a healthy species with a lot less inbreeding than the usual HT. Kim

This post was edited by roseseek on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 1:02

I hear you! :) Sounds like a great idea. That's why I picked Night Owl in the first place. I might as well do a couple of crosses with her. I had better be good in my record keeping!! Not one of my strengths LOL

If knowing what is behind a seedling is that important and interesting to you, like patience, you quickly learn how to keep the records. My failing has been more the critters outside either eating the danged tags or stealing the labels. Rats and mice love stealing tags. One of Jeri's dogs LOVES stealing the labels. There will always be some force working against you. Another "patience teaching" exercise!

I think the potential benefits in color and health out weigh the potential lack of petal count using Night Owl. You can over come a lot of that in your selection process and what you choose to breed with your first generation results. It will be interesting seeing what you come up with! Kim

Yeah, labels....that might take a bit of thought. I laminate rose information and put them in my pots - i.e.
Rose Name
Year I got it
Hybridizer and year
parents

So I could use small tags that I laminate or....we'll see. Any thoughts?
Carol

Well, a suggestion on the Rose Hybridizers Association was to cut up aluminum drink cans into strips; punch a hole in one end with a standard, hand held hole punch; then write the information on the tag with a pencil. It embosses the aluminum so it doesn't wash off. You can use twist ties or a piece of aluminum wire to tie it to the plant or a stake in the ground by the plant. It's very much like the Cole Aluminum Plant Tags.

For the actual crosses, there are also several options. One is to use the above, but that's heavy and costly in my opinion. If you'd be interested, I have detailed what I do to make and mark my crosses on my rose blog. Please feel free to enjoy and make use of any of it you like. I do like to keep it cheap, quick, easy and fun, so it may not be as involved or as "scientific" as some like to make it, but I figure if it's "work", why do it as my "hobby"? Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Pollinating roses

I'll check that out!! And the cans sound like a good idea. I was thinking of using garden tape - green stuff.

Carol

Wow! Just checked your blog out - very good. The pictures helped enormously. Thank you so much!!!
Carol

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Kim