Propagating Roses
At a meeting of the Pacific Northwest Hybridizer's Group, I showed the members a chart I made several years ago. When I first started hybridizing roses as a teenager, I didn't have a feel or even an understanding for the inheritance of color in roses. All I knew was that the color pink was very dominant and would show up in nearly every cross made.
In order to better understand the inheritance of color in roses, I checked out Modern Roses 5 from our public library. It had the parentage and descriptions of many cultivated roses in existence. For every rose listed in this book with a defined clear parentage, I recorded the color of the rose and noted the color of each of its parents. If the parents were not available, I passed over that variety. I spent nearly an entire summer working on this little project!
From all this data, I developed a chart. You can use this chart to help predict the possible outcome of crossing any two roses. You may be surprised at how accurate it can be. Of course, I make no guarantees with this chart, but it can be a useful guide.
Have fun with it! Let me know what you think!
In order to better understand the inheritance of color in roses, I checked out Modern Roses 5 from our public library. It had the parentage and descriptions of many cultivated roses in existence. For every rose listed in this book with a defined clear parentage, I recorded the color of the rose and noted the color of each of its parents. If the parents were not available, I passed over that variety. I spent nearly an entire summer working on this little project!
From all this data, I developed a chart. You can use this chart to help predict the possible outcome of crossing any two roses. You may be surprised at how accurate it can be. Of course, I make no guarantees with this chart, but it can be a useful guide.
Have fun with it! Let me know what you think!
Male (pollen) Parent
F
e
m
a
l
e
( seed )
P
a
r
e
n
t
Red
Pink
Orange
Yellow
White
Lavender
Bicolor
Red
91% red
5% orange
3 % pink
1 % bicolor
5% orange
3 % pink
1 % bicolor
53%pink
42% red
5% white
42% red
5% white
36% red
36% orange
21% pink
3.5% yellow
3.5% bicolor
36% orange
21% pink
3.5% yellow
3.5% bicolor
47% pink
23% orange
13% yellow
10% red
7 % bicolor
23% orange
13% yellow
10% red
7 % bicolor
40% pink
40% white
20% red
40% white
20% red
34% pink
34% red
22% bicolor
10% white
34% red
22% bicolor
10% white
Pink
53% pink
44% red
1.5% orange
1.5% yellow
44% red
1.5% orange
1.5% yellow
86% pink
5% red
2% yellow
5% orange
2% white
5% red
2% yellow
5% orange
2% white
50% pink
35% orange
7% yellow
7% red
0.5% white
0.5% lavender
35% orange
7% yellow
7% red
0.5% white
0.5% lavender
48% pink
26% white
13% yellow
10% orange
3% bicolor
26% white
13% yellow
10% orange
3% bicolor
40% pink
34% white
13% yellow
6.5% orange
6.5% red
34% white
13% yellow
6.5% orange
6.5% red
34% red
34% lavendar
32% white
34% lavendar
32% white
57% pink
14.3% red
14.3% yellow
14.3% bicolor
14.3% red
14.3% yellow
14.3% bicolor
Orange
44% red
34% pink
22% orange
34% pink
22% orange
77% pink
15% red
8% yellow
15% red
8% yellow
83% orange
17% pink
17% pink
56% yellow
25% orange
19% pink
25% orange
19% pink
Yellow
39% pink
27% red
15% bicolor
7% white
7% orange
5% yellow
27% red
15% bicolor
7% white
7% orange
5% yellow
56% pink
28% yellow
8% orange
4% red
4% bicolor
28% yellow
8% orange
4% red
4% bicolor
36% orange
24% pink
16% yellow
16% white
8% bicolor
24% pink
16% yellow
16% white
8% bicolor
75% yellow
9% orange
6% pink
6% white
4% bicolor
9% orange
6% pink
6% white
4% bicolor
25% yellow
25% pink
25% white
25% bicolor
25% pink
25% white
25% bicolor
White
39% red
33% pink
17% white
11% yellow
33% pink
17% white
11% yellow
63% pink
30% white
7% yellow
30% white
7% yellow
43% orange
14.25% pink
14.25% white
14.25% yellow
14.25% bicolor
14.25% pink
14.25% white
14.25% yellow
14.25% bicolor
47% yellow
26% pink
16% white
5.5% orange
5.5% red
26% pink
16% white
5.5% orange
5.5% red
75% white
25% pink
25% pink
Lavender
80% lavendar
10% pink
10% red
10% pink
10% red
Bicolor
50% orange
25% red
25% pink
25% red
25% pink
