Does anyone on here grow it? What are your experiences? Is it fragrant at all? I'm interested to learn more about this one. Thanks for your help.

Jay

Sunshine can be a weak grower own root, so keep it in a larger pot for best results. It is WONDERFULLY fragrant! It will flower all the time in my climate (Los Angeles); it sets hips easily, though not much results from its seeds. It can mildew. It keeps its color better if protected from the harshest, hottest of sun. It is SIGNIFICANTLY better as a budded plant. I grow it both own root as well as a four foot standard budded to Pink Clouds, which I obtained from Sequoia before they closed. What else would you like to know? Kim

Have you ever noticed rust on Sunshine? That would be a bigger issue than mildew.

I'm not in a rush to get it, but it is a rose I'd like to try in the future if it is suitable for this area. I'm sure it would bloom all the time here, but I don't want to grow something that will be ridden with ugly foliage.

Jay

If you can get her to bud you one, you'll enjoy Sunshine MUCH better than own root. Or, if you have the room and an adventurous spirit, Pink Clouds is what Burling uses and it roots VERY easily. I have Pink Clouds and I have Sunshine. Wanna try "rolling your own"? Kim

I've assumed that the stresses of pot culture are at root with most of the cases I've seen. An Iceberg in a sunny spot in a well-draining, half-barrel sized planter has been riddled with mildew and occasionally rust for most of the year. Iceberg is absolutely spotless in similar conditions in the ground for my mom.

I have thought about it before, and I should give my hand at budding. I'm only 23 and by the time I'm 50, who knows how many nurseries will still be selling the varieties I'm interested in that can grow tolerably on their own roots? Let alone many varieties I'm interested in at all. I tried to vernalize some seeds I got from a cross of Distant Drums and Ambridge Rose I tried last year, but I didn't get any seedlings to come up my first try. I'll be trying more crosses in the fall to get my first seedlings next year. There are few things I've immediately gotten so much satisfaction out of as growing roses. Learning to bud certainly couldn't hurt.

Jay

Yes. Mine is own-root. Yes, it is reasonably disease-free. No rust. Mildew very, very rarely.

We bought a plant for a friend, on the death of his father. The family name is Sunshine, so we obtained a tree-rose from Burlington Rose Nursery. In Simi Valley, it is a very, very happy and vigorous rose, and a superb bloomer.

I raise mine in the open air, in eight inch deep boxes with screen bottoms, raised on blocks or saw horses. What works in my high evaporation conditions is moisture control potting mix with the top levels generously amended with perlite and seed starter mix. If you have high humidity, lower heat and more controlled wind and can keep them properly watered, using only seed starter mix or other soil mixed to be that light, should work fine.

It isn't all that difficult to raise rose seedlings, though. How many simply fall to the soil and germinate all by themselves? The clues there are they don't require brilliant, hot, direct sun, and they want it damp, while not being so wet they rot. Kim

Would there be any benefit to trying to raise seedlings without chilling the seeds? I've wondered whether trying to grow seeds without stratification would better ready them for existence in a frost-free climate. If I'm not mistaken, Lila Banks was the result of such treatment. If that idea is a bad one, how long do you recommend stratifying hips/seeds, Kim? I probably didn't do a perfect job of cleaning the seeds of the germination-inhibiting pulp either.

Jeri- Thanks for your experience. I'm glad that Sunshine soldiers on for you.

Jay

I don't sterilize my seeds, but I do attempt to remove as much of the pulp as possible so they don't mold in the storage bags until I plant them. As long as the pulp and fibers aren't wet, they usually don't mold. Sometimes they remain in the refrigerator quite a few months. I recently harvested self set seed from one of my seedlings to sow this fall. Those are fairly clean and I've allowed them to air dry before storing them in the refrigerator because I can't successfully plant them for another five and a half to six months. I'm sure there will be seeds which are harvested when I plant. Those won't be cooled (stratified) at all and most simply won't need it. I planted seeds from another seedling this spring straight from the hips to the soil and they're germinating. If it remains cooler (lower than the eighties) in your conditions, and you can keep them properly watered, go ahead and plant them. That won't be the case here! It is guaranteed to be hot, windy and dry. Add the overly brilliant sun and newly germinated seedlings will fry quickly. My situation and conditions don't permit me to protect them from the extremes. "Baby" plants won't tolerate them any better than baby animals or people will. We've already experienced the range from mid forties to low triple digits since January and more seedlings are pushing through the surface each week. Only those which emerge during cooler, less extreme conditions make it. It's disheartening to watch them emerge and dry out, like feeding emerging faxes into a paper shredder, but I figure only the best are going to survive, so that should help in the culling process. If their root systems are sufficiently vigorous to maintain them through the hottest, most brilliant periods, they should be decent plants. I can already see which are healthy and which are definitely not. More than likely, those which are already heavily mildewing would clean up substantially if I budded them, but that would possibly supply more varieties which would make bad own root plants. I may miss some beautiful, interesting novelties, but at what price?

I hope I've helped give you some useful ideas to tweak your method. Good luck! Kim

Jay