Rose Reader

By Andrew Barocco The future of antique roses is just beginning to bloom. The Antique Rose Emporium’s breeding program aims to harness the best qualities of both old and modern roses, as well as some long-overlooked species roses in our effort to improve the rose. Conventional breeding programs typically cross modern commercial shrubs with each other, which, from a ge- netic standpoint, stir the pot without adding any new in- gredients.Making a better rose, however, requires a more diverse gene pool so that new cultivars have the chance to differ vastly from previous introductions—a goal we meet by bringing previously unused species roses (many with rare, desirable traits) into breeding. From Our Rose Breeder

By crossing antique roses, modern shrubs, and our Pio- neer roses with new species, the Antique Rose Empo- rium is creating our own “secret recipes” for hybridizing some very special roses. For example, we are anxious to hear from you about “Fragrant Blush,” our newest re- lease bred for its intense fragrance. Also we will soon be releasing the first repeat-blooming, blackspot-resistant moss rose! And in the future we look forward to intro- ducing repeat-blooming Albas, Centifolias, Damasks, Gallicas, Banskiaes, Bracteatas, and Laevigatas and rare- ly seen improved Spinossimas, Huthemias, Roxburghiis, and Hybrid Setigeras. The future of antique roses is a developing story, so stay tuned as we continue our quest to bring you your “per- fect” rose.

To be sure, breeding with a new species presents its own challenges. So why bother? Despite hundreds of years of rose breeding progress, many desirable traits of overlooked species are yet to be hybridized into re- peat-blooming commercial forms. Some of these traits include autumn color, crepe myrtle-like peeling bark, fragrant foliage, and mossed or crested buds. Moreover, introducing a forgotten species into the gene pool may yield improvements in shade tolerance, heat and cold tol- erance, or disease resistance, especially to rose rosette—a scourge that is challenging the industry right now.

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