Saturday, February 2, 2013

First Sprouts of 2013!

Today I counted the first sprouts of the year - there are 2,968 so far from the 58,966 seeds that were planted last month.  At this stage, it is quite evident that some seed parents produce seedlings that germinate much earlier than others.  Some have already germinated too thickly.  Seen below are seedlings coming from the variety known as 'Darlow's Enigma'. The seeds in this area should have been planted less densely. This group will have to be culled rather hard to avoid a total jumbled mess. Next year my goal is to plant about half the number of seeds (that is if I can resist doing "just one more cross").


With some of the other seed parents however, there have been no germinations, but I know that will change.  Some of the later germinating seed parents have a very high germination rate.  


In any case, this place will be all in bloom in about 10 weeks.

4 comments:

  1. you know, I got an Edmund roses catalog the other day and your Lemonade Eyconic was in it. I think the other one (I think you have two) was in it as well...I thought it was really neat to see where the roses come from..at least in the case of those roses

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  2. I was so relieved to see not all of your rose seed is germinating as yet. This is my first year to try more than just a few seed in a pot, and I had thought from what I had read elsewhere that large proportion of rose seed should be germinating by week 4 (some much sooner than that). I too planted rose seed last month--of course nowhere near on the scale you did--but have been so concerned to not have any germinating as yet. Made me wonder if any will, but this gives me new hope...

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  3. Hi Janie, Thank you - I agree that it is fun to see rose genealogies and where the particular traits come from.

    Hi Sally, Yes, with some varieties germination is much slower. You might check on the RHA forum to see what roses germinate early for other rose breeders. Which roses are your favorite seed parents?

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  4. Berries & Cream germinates like crazy--op hips that have dropped unoopened into potting soil have erupted into clumps of seedlings--so I decided to use it for my first real efforts with my own crosses. I enjoy striped roses, and all of the op seedlings that germinated for me have been striped--mostly singles, but also one that is more double than its parent.

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