('Fragrant Cloud' x Rosa carolina) X Rosa virginiana

A rudely healthy and enthusiastically suckering low-grower.

I’m really excited about getting to play around with this seedling. It is only ¼ Hybrid Tea [maternal grandmother was ‘Fragrant cloud’] and ¾ native tetraploid species [1/4 Rosa Carolina, ½ Rosa virginiana]. I’m pretty sure it won’t repeat, but it could possibly produce offspring that would. I’m going to test that out by pollinating with ‘Carefree Sunshine’ pollen.
The flowers open fairly large for being ¾ native and are a darker pink than either parent. They have a relatively strong scent that seems to be a mix of old-rose and something fruity maybe.The plant’s appearance only shows little hints of Hybrid Tea influence. The foliage and growth habit are much like the native tetraploids it comes from… short, bushy and suckering. The leaves (especially new growth) do seem to have much more purple in them than the natives typically would. I haven’t seen any evidence of disease yet at all.

They were starting to color up, so I harvested these 12 hips before they could drop and get lost. I’ll have to wait until I get germination to tell for absolute certain, but it would appear that this hybrid is going to be female-fertile with modern rose pollen (‘Carefree Sunshine’). I’ll also have to get a current foliage picture, since it seems to be holding its leaves and staying healthy while many other roses are doing their end of summer drop.