1. Pacific Northwest District
Hybridizing
John & Mitchie Moe
Master Rosarians
Pacific Northwest District
American Rose Society
‘Seattle Sunrise’
Photo by Rich Baer
[(‘Pristine’ x ‘Selfridges’) x ‘Finest Hour’]
February 15, 2012

2. Acknowledgements Photos by authors, except where credits are shown
Excellent sources
Rose Hybridizing for Beginners,
Rose Hybridizers Association
Rose Hybridizing “The Next Step”,
See for details on these booklets.

3. The Concept of Hybridizing
Definition – to produce or cause to produce hybrids; to crossbreed
So then – to hybridize, take the pollen from the stamens of one flower and apply it to the pistils of another

4. Genetics?
By permission of Jason Kottke under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Creative Commons license
Photo by Jason Kottke

5. How it Really Works! A cross of these two……. ‘Love & Peace’
Photo by Rich Baer
Credit - Photo Files
‘Love & Peace’
‘Blue Peter’
A cross of these two…….

6. Produced These Seedlings
‘Barbara’
‘Lynn’
‘Judie’
Seedling
Seedling

7. But, Before You Start Stop and picture your ideal rose
Now – what characteristics should it have?
Some possibilities include;
A particular form – e.g., HT, Fl, Mini, etc.
A specific color
Fragrance
Disease resistance

8. Choosing a Trait of Interest
The possibilities are endless because of DNA
Thus – focus on your interest before you begin!
Do your research, and then select your parents

9. A Good Place to Start Are the parents healthy roses?
Are the parents of those parents healthy?
Are other combinations of its parents healthy?
You need a good reference book for parentage – e.g., Modern Roses or Helpmefind.com
Then plan your crosses!

10. The Anatomy of a Rose
Roses are capable of self fertilization as each has stamens
(male organs), and pistils (female organs)
Texas A & M
Rose Breeding & Genetics Program

11. (35mm film, baby food jars, etc),
Gather Your Supplies
Tweezers,
camel hair brush,
pollen containers
(35mm film, baby food jars, etc),
Q-tips, tags
Note – With so many digital cameras, 35 mm film canisters are getting hard to obtain, but check places that still develop and print film. Most places will give them away. It is easy to see the pollen in a black container!

12. Selecting the bloom
Stamens should be starting to show, so anthers are mature
The more petals, the more it must be open
Timing can be critical!

13. Emasculating the bloom
Remove
petals to expose the stamens and pistils

14. Pistils surrounded by the anthers containing pollen
Emasculated Bloom
Petals removed
Pistils surrounded by the anthers containing pollen
Anthers

15. Carefully remove anthers with tweezers or fingers
Removing the anthers
Carefully remove anthers with tweezers or fingers
Stamens
with
anthers
removed
Stigma
Note: Some hybridizers do not believe in using fingers here. They say that the oil on the skin can damage the pollen.

16. Collecting Pollen
Let mature anthers drop to a sheet of paper for drying to release pollen

17. Drying Pollen Most pollen will be released by the next day
The powder-like grains of pollen will be visible on the paper

18. 1 – 2 weeks, or refrigerate up to 4 weeks
Storing Pollen
Store pollen in a covered container away from sunlight at room temp for
1 – 2 weeks, or refrigerate up to 4 weeks
Freeze for long term

19. Applying Pollen Apply generous amount of pollen by clean fingertip,
Q-tip,
pipe cleaner, or camel hair brush
Again note: Some hybridizers do not believe in using fingers here. They say that the oil on the skin can damage the pollen.
If hybridizing outside in the northern part of the US - do it the first bloom cycle!

20. Label your Cross Label should be weather- proof
List seed parent first followed by the pollen parent
Include date!

21. Hip Developing
If pollination was initially successful, the hip will start to swell in a few weeks

22. Hips Maturing
It takes
90 – 120 days so the seeds that are inside are mature and ripe for harvest

23. ‘Gemini’ x ‘Seattle Sunrise’
Hips can be any size!
R. acicularis
One of my crosses
‘Gemini’ x ‘Seattle Sunrise’

24. Hip cut opened
Dried stigma
Connected to ovary
Seeds

25. Hip and seeds
Harvest the hip and cut open to remove the hard, bony seeds
Wash to remove all parts of the fleshy hip

26. Soaking seeds
Soak for 1-2 days in a mild fungicide solution to prevent mold that can kill the embryo in storage

27. Stratifying the Seeds
Store in moist Perlite for 6 weeks at room temp, followed by 6 weeks in fridge before planting

28. Sowing the Seeds
Use a 2 inch deep tray with drain holes and plant ¼ - ½ in deep in sterile potting soil (peat/Perlite 1:1) or
Sunshine #4
Add no fertilizer!
Rose seeds usually germinate in temperatures between 45 and 60°F, with 50 to 55°F as the ideal. Germination slows significantly when the temperature rises above 70°F. Some hybridizers believe that fluctuating temperatures are more helpful than a constant temperature.

29. Seedling sprouting Once sprouted, give tray 16 hours of light per day
Keep moist!
Mist weekly with mild fungicide to prevent
damp-off

30. Seedling after a few weeks
In 5 – 6 weeks you should see some buds
The waiting seems forever!

31. Waiting for that first bloom
Watch growth for vigor, disease resistance, etc.
Here are
a couple of nice, healthy buds!

32. Now, wasn’t the wait worth it?
The first bloom!
More waiting, but
a nice one!
Now, wasn’t the wait worth it?

33. The Next Step
Wait for next bloom – how many petals, how long to repeat, etc.
If a keeper, take some cuttings to see how it propagates
Plant some to check vigor, disease resistance, etc.
Evaluate – did it meet your goal?
Note: If it is diseased, e.g., very mildew prone or an albino, it is better to discard it rather than spend a lot of time messing with it, as it most likely will never improve.

34. Questions? Thank you ‘Hot To Trot’ ‘Klima’ x ‘Freisinger Morgenrote’
Photo by Corinne Brown
‘Hot To Trot’
‘Klima’ x ‘Freisinger Morgenrote’
Thank you