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mstywoods

can roses cross-pollinate and change colors?

mstywoods
12 years ago

Ok, either I'm hallucinating, have bad memory, or a strange rose plant popped into my garden on it's own accord - OR roses can cross-pollinate and change color. The rose bush I planted about 2 years ago had yellow flowers, but the bloom that just opened (and the color of the many buds that have not opened yet) are RED!

My neighbors have 2 red rose bushes, so that's why I'm thinking maybe it cross-pollinated mine. But googling the situation also brought in some info about if a plant had been grafted at some point, and that part died, then the other coloring would take over. And then also something about a spontaneous mutation of the parent plant.

Has anyone else had a rose plant do this? I'll be interested to see if I get any yellow blooms on it, or if will all be red. Also, I have another yellow rose on the other side of that same garden bed - wonder if it will do the same! Hope not - although the red is pretty, I really liked the yellow ones :^(

Marj

Comments (51)

  • dsieber
    12 years ago

    Skybird you are correct on the rootstock (however I have found most of them are like wild roses and come out pink). But if the red is coming from above the graft it could be an non-true feature/defect of the original rose. I personally would be glad if I had a rose perform this trick.

  • cnetter
    12 years ago

    The most common rootstock on roses is the US (other than for Florida) is Dr. Huey, which blooms deep red flowers just once a year in June. This is the most likely reason for the red blooms. I see Dr. Huey blooming all over the Denver area.

    Although I have had roses sport (mutate), but those blooms are usually white. I then take the sport as a cutting and see if it's stable. Interesting sports of roses that prove to be healthy and stable (not revert back to looking like the parent plant) are quite marketable. Some of my favorite roses came about from mutations.

    I have had roses self seed, one of which produced a very nice double version of Darlow's Enigma. Unfortunately it did it ten feet away in my iris patch.

    But, I still think what you got is blooming root stock.
    Back when I was a member of the Denver Rose Society, we always recommended burying the graft/bud union at least a couple of inches unless you wanted to mound soil or mulch every fall to protect the graft from winter damage or death which will lead to the rock stock being more likely to take over. Also, it was thought that the grafted stock might form roots of its own if the graft was buried. It used to frustrate us that the instructions on packaged roses often showed the rose being planted with the bud union above ground. (Don't know if the packages still have this, I haven't planted a packaged rose in decades.) Many folks would call the consulting rosarians, asking the same questions you are, saying they planted the rose according to the instructions. Their unprotected graft died in the winter, and Dr. Huey root stock took over.

    I always bury my graft to protect it since I don't have the time to pile mulch over the bud union. I have way too many roses to do that.

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Pfew! Looks like I'm not crazy (and I don't need meds , Skybird :-p) afterall!!

    I have never planted roses before, and have only had minimal experiences living in places that had them growing in my yard - so I'd never heard of this happening. To tell you the truth, I just plopped it into the ground and didn't pay attention to (nor read anything about it on the label) exactly how I planted it :^o.

    What did happen last spring was that I thought it had died over the winter. The canes were brown and brittle with no signs of growth. So I bought another yellow rose to replace it, but when I started to dig it up I found shoots coming up just under the surface. So I covered it back up and planted the new rose elsewhere. This rose in question never bloomed last year, although did get plenty of leaves and stalks. I didn't cut it back as far last fall, and with the fair winter we had and lots of rain, it has grown like gangbusters this spring!

    So sounds like indeed it must have been a grafted rose, and the Dr. Huey root stock is what grew last and this spring, and not the apparently grafted yellow part. What is the reason for grafting to this root stalk - hardiness?

    I still wonder if maybe I'll still get some yellow, because some of the stalks look thicker than the others and the red buds/blooms are on the lower branches which look a little smaller. It will be an interesting plant to watch this year!

    Thanks for all the great info!!

    Marj

  • david52 Zone 6
    12 years ago

    Speaking of roses, the deer heard visited here the other evening, nipping off Every. Single. Rose. Bud. In. The. Garden. Along with all the lower leaves off the fruit trees.

    "Silly rascals" I said to myself.

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    12 years ago

    That's very considerate of you, David, to provide tasty and nutritious meals for the wildlife. ;o)

    Dan

  • cnetter
    12 years ago

    mstywoods, the primary reason for grafting roses onto rootstock is speed and volume in getting desirable roses to market. The rootstock is vigorous and quickly grown to a good size where the top is then lopped off and a single bud eye of the desirable rose is grafted on. This bud eye becomes the graft or bud union we talked about above.
    Reproducing roses this way enables a lot of roses to be made from canes of desirable stock since one cane can provide quite a few bud eyes. The vigor from the rootstock enables the bud eye to grow into a good size rose pretty quickly.
    Own root roses are often done by taking a piece of rose cane and rooting it. I've also known people who propagated roses by tissue culture too. It then takes longer to get a rose the same size as a grafted one. But as far as I can tell, after a few years both own root and grafted roses end up with similar vigor and size. I've rooted possibly thousands of roses over the years. Some of these I had grafted versions of the rose as well and over time they seem to behave pretty much the same in most cases. David Austin roses seem to throw up more canes from the base when own root. Same with most OGRs. Hybrid Teas were pretty much indistinguishable after three years or so.
    In the case of Florida, where there is a root nematode problem, grafting is done for hardiness. The roses there are often grafted onto Fortuniana root stock which is resistant to these nematodes.

    Anybody want to take cuttings of roses and try root them, now is a good time. I've got lots and lots of non-patented and old garden roses just coming into bloom.

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    12 years ago

    Memories come back...growing up in Michigan, we'd root roses from cuttings because back then, winters were worse and you never knew what would survive, so that was a cheap way to go. In CA before I quit roses that was a good way to go there as well. IME the old roses were much better than some of the new teas and you'd always go somewhere with a way to bring home a surreptitious cutting from an old rose you liked (there are some wonderful roses at Empire Mine SHP that I spread around admired a lot), the Austins were just coming out when I stopped doing roses, but I liked what I saw in that time. At any rate, what cnetter said.

    Dan

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Fastinating! Well, I'm still waiting to see if a few of the larger canes that have no buds on them will eventually come out with some yellow flowers. The bottom half, with much smaller thickness of canes, is flowering away in red! That would be really cool if I got both colors on one plant :^) Possible?

    The rose I planted on the other side of the garden has buds on it, and I believe I detect a hint of yellow. So yeah, still have one at least!!

    Thanks for all the great info.

  • cathylester24
    9 years ago

    I transplanted a red rose bush (already there, but too close to front door, when I moved in) to another location in the yard, and it has bloomed all white! The canes were fairly skinny, and the roses weren't as large as the rest in the same area, but I assumed it was the location that kept the whole bush smaller. Since moving it to the fence line (near a thriving white Lady Banks I planted a couple of years ago), it's begun to grow very well, but it's definitely not what I expected!


  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    HI cathylester24. Yea, it's quite a surprise when the flowers come in a totally different color!! LOL. Guess yours did the same - the new flowers are from the root plant, and the crown/grafted rose is gone. I'm happy with my red one since it grows in so well, but glad my second yellow rose I planted is still staying yellow :-D

    Marj

  • Rainbow Zen
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Twenty five years ago I planted several different types of roses. One is a type that rambles, grows to about four feet high, puts out runners, spreads rampantly & produces great masses of small pure white flowers (with very little fragrance) and no hips at all. The other grows quite tall, well over seven feet high, & produces masses of large strongly fragrant hot pink cabbage-looking roses and large rose hips. Both types have flourished with very little care and spread into some of the more inaccessible areas of my property, where they've entirely escaped tending and gone their own wild way for years. Recently I finally a cut a path thru the wilderness to discover I now have some rambling roses that grow about four feet high, put out runners, and produces small fragrant white flowers w/ hot pink flecks and little rose hips. Something genetic and interesting went on out there over the last quarter century while no one was watching... call it what you will.

  • Rainbow Zen
    8 years ago

    P.S. The small rambling roses are a common type, and I got them from a local nursery. I don't remember the name or type of the pink roses, but they were imported from England


  • Mary-Anne Duncan
    8 years ago

    My friend gave me two rose bushes one in pink and the other one was orange. I planted them together side by side. Both rose bushes now have pink and orange roses growing on the same bush.

  • Sumit Mohapatra
    7 years ago



    i am not that sure but this change happen to come after i started my first crossing Experiment

  • onlyonepragya
    6 years ago

    I have exact same thing going on at my house!!

  • Carla M. Spacher
    6 years ago


    My baby rose bush has always produced orange-red flowers. This year some are violet-purple and the lower ones are orange-red.

    Last Spring, I planted some flowering ground cover in that pot. Could that have affected it?

  • tsanders86
    6 years ago

    For the lady who said you should take your meds ,I take mine every day and my yellow roses now pink l.

  • lab brat
    6 years ago

    Well I purchased light pink roses and now they are hot pink. My complaint is tiny compared to others, so I guess I'll keep quiet about how I planned to dig them up and return them. I'll just sit back and wait on the next color.

  • tsanders86
    6 years ago

    I had mine for 5 years before it changed, so I can not take it back

  • Christina Kinvig
    6 years ago

    So pleased to find this a nd Marj's question about a baby rose suddenly appeaaring in garden. This happened to me this month. I have 3 iceberg rose trees that were planted about 10 years ago and I found a baby rose plant in front of one of them and couldn't believe how it could have got there. I have put in a separate pot and look forward to seeing it flourish and check that it is related to the parent plants which BTW cost around $49 to buy!

  • Jennifer Hubbard
    5 years ago

    my 4 year old Rose's are doing this too. Orginal Rose's are long stem yellow Rose's and new shoots from ground are multiple pink/red color. It's the first time I've seen this.

  • Dana Mathews
    5 years ago

    Red rose bush is now producing pink roses & mixed pink/red roses.

  • Dana Mathews
    5 years ago

    Spoke to the grower & she said that these bushes were grafted. Still strange to see the ones that are mixed, half pink, half red. But they are beautiful.

  • mmmm12COzone5
    5 years ago

    I agree. Very pretty.

  • HU-187708968
    4 years ago

    My violet pink rose went dormant for a year producing barren canes with no bulbs. Another winter came and went. I decided to give the rose another chance. Bulbs emerged as dark red and dark red blooms emerged as small, like tea rose variety. Very bizzare!

  • HU-269629952
    3 years ago

    I’ve had a pale yellow rose bush; it’s been that color for seventeen years consistently. This year I planted a coral hot pink rose bush right next to it. Now, for the first time in seventeen years, my pale yellow rose bush is making deep yellow blooms with pink and orange streaks in the center. Another thing, the original rose bush never had a smell; my new coral hot pink one is super fragrant and sweet smelling. Now, the original rose bush smells sweet. I‘m sure people who know more then me have good reason to say an original plant can’t be effected by cross pollination...but my experience sure does make that hard to accept!!

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    Oh wow! That is very interesting HU! Would love to see a pic of your new variety!


  • Iona Eden Siemer
    3 years ago

    The same thing happened to me - I have a huge rose bush that used to be a beautiful yellow, peach, orange color and is now a very dark, rich magenta. The color that is now is pretty, but the previous color was out of this world. I thought I was losing my mind when it changed. Is there any way to change it back??

  • PRO
    DES Home Improvement
    3 years ago

    Basically, you’ve got a Dr Huey

  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago

    My rose plant starts open up some kind of pink than when is complitly open is like peach color than turns in to very lite pink and in 2 weeks when the rose its about to die turns allmost complitly white, its been like that for 6 years that i have it.

    Excuse my English im trying to find the name of my plant and found you guys



  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago



  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago



  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago



  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago



  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago



  • Antonio Montoya
    3 years ago

    That is the same rose in 2 weeks

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    That's amazing! Do you know the name of the variety of rose it is?

  • HU-87251165
    3 years ago

    well let me tell you something bout roses changing color! It happend to me. I had a beautiful rose garden on the end of my modular home. prety wide area. anyway I had 9 different Long stemed roses n flourishing beautiful ! each there own color! I even had a black roses! ornge and black, red, yellow, pink, purple and yellow! So beautiful ! Then one day I added a new rose fushia in color just radiant! they all bloomed i deadhead them n on there last cycle they all bloomed wild deep red roses and i mean all of them just never came back to first fase they bloomed in

  • HU-295379065
    3 years ago

    Yes we have same yellow one or two flowers for 5 yrs. This year plenty of yellow and the red flowers too


  • HU-295379065
    3 years ago

    Yes have same yellow for 7 years one flower. Now 8 yellow and about same red

  • Tiara Allen
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    My grandmother had a huge climbing rose on her back porch and every new rose she planted ended up being the same color as that Rose in the second year. How did it happen?I don't know... but yes it did happen. I am unsure of the variety but these roses were climbers and they smelt like pepper.

  • Monique Kramper
    3 years ago

    I had 4 different color rose varieties (yellow, red, coral, & pink) planted in the same area. The next year and all subsequent they were all the same color pink.

  • HU-510367920
    2 years ago


    I have a well established deep red climbong rise abd this year one cane off the top came in with very small shriveled leaves and bright pink buds that opened into bright pink blooms the oetals are a little shriveled as well or i dont lnkw maybe more pointy than the rest of the deep red blooms. this is so odd to kenabd never happened before. you can see the oink cane next to the honeysuckle.

  • Beth Macia
    2 years ago

    Well I thought I was going crazy. Last year here in Michigan I planted 3 different color rose bushes (pink, yellow, orange) next to each other and this year they are ALL peach/orange color.

  • HU-700023322
    last year

    my neighbors ignored their rose bush across from my yard. it used to have yellowish peach blooms on it. i started to care for it...trim...fertilize it and for second year now the blooms are red like mine.

  • HU-471711889
    last year
    last modified: last year

    I have had a white Thomas Lipton rugosa rose for over twenty years, but this year I was shocked to see it is now blooming red! diferent leaves also. CRAZY ! darn that Dr Huey

  • john crady
    last year

    I have self pollinated three of my desert rose plants. i was wondering if doing that, the new plants from seed will be a mixture of the colors that I self pollinated. I have done this with Plumeria and that is how it works for those plants. If someone has ever done this I would love to know the outcome. TIA, John

  • HU-924833997
    4 months ago

    Yes it has happened to my yellow tose, it now has a beautiful red line around the outside if the flowers, my ither tise bush is ref. i eas told that bees can pollinate colour from one tose to another, have you hear of this?

  • Shea Hall
    2 months ago

    Have desert rose and iceberg rose bush white when I first flowers tinted with I'm thinking they cross pollinated know I'm wondering if that it's possible for two pollinate maybe rose bush might culprit even there not in area

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