Seedlings of Happenstance

As is typical of most years, the first pollinations of the year are based on what is blooming at the time.  2015 was no exception.  Last year there were 2 seedlings that were blooming early that I had not consider to combine in a cross.  However, since they were blooming, I decided, "why not?!"  The seed parent was Q199-1 (a single petalled Hulthemia), while the pollen parent that I used was P15-1 (a very double, bright yellow mini).  More detailed descriptions can be found in the post entitled, "First Pollination of 2015".  It turns out that the very first pollination ended up failing, meaning that the hip dried up and fell off before any seeds had formed.  However, after making the cross, I decided to repeat it several times, such that at the end of the pollinating season, there were 31 hips forming that ended up producing 481 seeds.  Of these, so far 266 seedlings have sprouted.  Had the parents not been the first roses to bloom, I would not have made the cross.  Perhaps something beautiful will come out of this cross of happenstance.  :)

It won't be long and these will be blooming!

The very first flower bud of the year was seen yesterday on another cross that germinated a bit earlier (see below).