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medaryville

Rosa fedtschenkoana

medaryville
14 years ago

I found a very old posting on another forum regarding a species rose (Rosa fedtschenkoana). Apparently it is fragrant, tetraploid, reblooming, and extremely hardy. However, I have been unable to find much more information on it. With all of that, I am surprised it has not been used more in breeding. Perhaps there was some misinformation in the posting.

Comment (1)

  • roseseek
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, I've played with R. Fedtschenkoana for a number of years now. It isn't a "rebloomer", but rather has a nearly all summer bloom scattering. It can be quite "difficult" to work with, refusing most pollen and refusing to fertilize many things you try it on. My first success, MANY years ago, was putting its pollen on Orangeade. I chose it because you can pollenate Orangeade with dirt. I kept two seedlings, one double, medium to light pink, once blooming and concentrating all of the blooms at the ends of the canes much like a Hollyhock. The second scatters blooms all summer, larger, more "ragged" blooms in very light, blush pink quickly fading to brilliant white. My second success was putting the species on my Dottie Louise, and Orangeade X Basye's Legacy hybrid. I have six or seven seedlings from this cross I've kept. I love the mixture of roses contained in this cross. Depending upon whose information you believe, this represents Orangeade, R. Moschata abysinnica, R. Rugosa rubra, R. Carolina alba, Hugh Dickson (hybrid perpetual) and R. Fedtschenkoana. Only one has given more than spring bloom. Some sucker as madly as the species, others don't. All are deciduous with beautiful autumn foliage. All have fertile seed. All have proven to be bears as far as accepting pollen and I've gotten to where I don't waste time trying their pollen on anything I don't know to be a sure thing. Fortunately, Dottie Louise turned out to be as much a ferile Myrtle as Orangeade is.

    Now, I have a dozen or so retained seedlings of 1-72-1, the sister seedling of Ralph Moore's Rise'n Shine, and used because it produces yellow seedlings where Rise'n Shine gives whites, and because it also produces healthy offspring. Only one has bloomed in its first year after germination.

    Fedtschenkoana has highly scented foliage, like Noble Fir with hardwood fire smoke. The first and second generation seedlings also retain the scented foliage, but it's altered from the fir to cedar, pine and "fresh", with and without the smoky quality. Fedtscenkoana also has wonderful silvery foliage, which has been intensified by the Orangeade genes to various tints of blue, silver, turquoise and burgundy. Some plants are upright and very vigorous while two of the miniature X species are smaller, mounding, ferny plants. Some are quite lightly prickled, others are highly prickled. 1-72-1 also produces many thornless offspring. The prickles vary widely on the hips, too. Some are nearly mossed, others are totally smooth, with variations in between.

    All have been completely disease free both in the mid desert, where they were created and along the coast mountains between the San Fernando Valley and Pacific Ocean, where they now grow.

    I don't know how long it may take to get more traditional type plants from this line, or if it's even possible and still retain any of the desirable traits I used the species to get. Dr. David Byrne of Texas A&M did enzyme tests on Fedtschenkoana and determined it is behind Autumn Damask! I had always felt it has much to give. Now, we found out is is very likely behind many of the roses we grow. Kinda neat!

    I have suckers available from several of the Dottie Louise X Fedtschenkoana seedlings which I will be happy to share this fall/winter, once the high heat dies down so it's more probable they will succeed. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I don't have any from the species as I had dug a sucker from my clump a few years ago when I had to let me old garden go and it hasn't produced much sucker growth as it hasn't been happy. I do have suckers from the Orangeade X Fedtschenkoana hybrids, not many, as they haven't been happy for a long time since they want and need to be in the ground.

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