Fun With "Basye's Thornless" Seedlings

Though I've had "Basye's Thornless" for many years, I had used it only briefly in 2001 in a few crosses, and since nothing exciting came out of those few crosses, I moved on to other rose hybridizing projects.  In 2012, however, thinking that the lower petal count, relative cleanliness, and thornlessness of "Basye's Thornless" might be something good to combine with the Hulthemias, I made a large number of crosses using it both as a pollen parent and as a seed parent.  In fact, altogether, I planted more than 5,300 seeds with "Basye's Thornless" as a seed or pollen parent.  While most of the crosses where made with the Hulthemias, I used several other non-Hulthemia seed parents too.  The two new 2014 seedlings that I am highlighting in this post are the result of open pollinations of two seedlings from the 2012 crosses that I made.  So far they are both thornless.

The first one shown below is the result of an open pollination of the seedling discussed in a previous post (see Moving Toward Cleaner Minis).  The notation for the cross is as follows: ('Pearl Sanford' X "Basye's Thornless") X ('Pearl Sanford' X "Basye's Thornless").  It seems to be quite compact for a seedling having "Basye's Thornless" in its heritage, and has more petals than it's seed parent (in the above referenced post, it is shown in the first photo).

The second seedling likewise resulted from an open pollination.  It's seed parent is also shown in a previous post, it is the 5th photo down in 2013 "Basye's Thornless" Seedlings).  Though the seed parent was the result of a Hulthemia cross, it didn't have a blotch and neither does this seedling shown below.  This seedling has more petals than most seedlings having "Basye's Thornless" in their heritage and has blooms that are somewhat larger.  It is vigorous and seems to bloom very freely.

Both of these seedlings seem as good as, but possibly better than, their seed parents.  They resulted from open pollinated seeds that were planted for the purpose of evaluating possible new seed parents.  Both seed parents (referenced in the links above) set hips very well as brand new seedlings in 2013, and since their germination rates were so good, I began using them in crosses this year.  I am most interested in what seedlings might result next year from crosses that I made onto the seed parent of the red mini shown in the first photo above.

Unusual Hulthemia Hips

"O225-1" is a seedling that I"ve mentioned before (see blog post: Hulthemia Traits, the Good and the Bad).  It is one of the showiest and most floriferous Hulthemias that I have raised from seed.  

It turns out that this seedling is quite fertile: it sets hips easily and the seeds germinate very well.  In the referenced blog post above, I mentioned that unfortunately this seedling has a tendency for "dieback", which is sometimes seen in Hulthemias.  I am wondering if the same cause for dieback is what affects it's hips causing them to develop their unusual appearance as they mature.  

It almost looks as if the skin of the hip is unable to grow as the hip swells, causing the skin to crack as it stretches.  It is only a guess, but perhaps this same effect results in girdling of the canes which causes the dieback.  Fortunately, I see dieback in only a few of it's offspring.

Enjoying Seedling Photos With The Camera+ App

I've come to rely on my iPhone camera for most of the photos that I take, but I have been frustrated with the autofocus feature preventing me from choosing my focal point especially when doing close-up photos of new seedlings.  The Camera+ App, at only $1.99 has been a great add-on App for the iPhone camera.

This first photo demonstrates the ability to focus through closer leaves to the center of the seedling bloom, producing an image with crisp anthers.

Here are some other new 2014 seedling photos.

'Singin' in the Rain' X 'First Impression':

'Gemini' X 'First Impression':

'Darlow's Enigma' X "Mixed 2013 Hulthemia seedling pollen":

And yes, just like it's seed parent, the above seedling is fragrant and blooms a ton (has been nearly continuously in bloom from the very first blooms).

The next seedling resulted from a cross of a 2011 Hulthemia seedling with 'Eyes For You'. It is the only 'Eyes For You' seedling that I have kept, but looks to be a good one and is fragrant.

The last photos are of two of my favorite 2014 seedlings, the first coming from a cross of "O212-1" X "Q247-3", and the final photo of a seedling from a cross of "N159-5" X "Q62-1".

The last seedling appears to be thornless, a trait that comes from it's grandparent "Basye's Thornless".  I especially like the clarity of this photo where not only the anthers are clearly in focus, but so is the fuzz on the inside of the reflexing sepal.  I can hardly believe that the Camera+ App only cost $1.99 (this is not an advertisement by the way!)  I'm looking forward to having more fun with my iPhone camera.