That is the baby?

Yes, the baby in the pot ghetto in a shady spot with the sun shining thru on some of the leaves. The pot ghetto is fenced off from the dogs, especially my biggest who will fire hydrant what is within range.;)

Sorry about the sideways orientation. It wasn't that way before I posted.

Melissa

Congratulations, Melissa! Yes ma'am, if it is a self seeding, it should be white. Getting other colors on Fedtschenkoana foliage can be a pain. That white bleaches everything out until a few generations down the line. If Orangeade, which saturates pigments in all plant parts, can only produce blush pink with Fedtschenkoana, you know those genes are pretty strong.

The wildest seedling I've raised which appears to be a hybrid of it, with Fedtschenkoana is Puzzlement. I had Stellata mirifica and Fedtschenkoana planted about four feet apart, many feet from any other roses in flower. I'd tried breeding with Stellata repeatedly with nothing to show for it. The area they grew in is horrendous. Stellata was definitely in decline but it was too hot to move it safely, so I kept it watered and watched it die. For its swan song, it set six hips with numerous small seeds mixed in its stinky fibers and flesh. All were planted and two seedlings germinated. No other species cross seedlings were planted in that section of the table, so these seedlings must be from Stellata seed. The surrounding seedlings were all from modern crosses, and these two definitely are not modern.

One seedling is traditional Stellata appearing. The other, Puzzlement, is what I would honestly expect from a cross between Stellata and Fedtschenkoana. I have to tell you, in all the years I've been raising seedling roses, this is the first time a result actually appears to be a wind or bee produced hybrid between two adjacent roses. Take a look at the page on Help Me Find and see if you don't think it resembles the two parents.

The foliage, prickles and foliage scent are Fedtschenkoana, but the blooms are pink, not blush, but pink and it flowers sporadically spring through fall, like Fedtschenkoana does. Stellata will rebloom if kept watered, but this thing just keeps putting out buds and blooms on new growth tips. I had to move Fedtschenkoana from that location to prevent its loss, so it now lives in a fifteen gallon can, again.

It will be quite interesting to see what color your seedling flowers. Don't expect any blooms until it achieves a much larger size. If it's a self, it needs to be almost a fifteen gallon plant size to flower. If it's a hybrid, who knows? Puzzlement germinated in 2012 and was transplanted from the table to a five gallon can, it was that large, in December of that year. The first flower appeared in late August, 2013 and it has continued to put out some flowers monthly since. I understand from Malcolm Manners it roots well for him under mist. I've not tried propagating it. No hips have been formed yet, but that could be due to the plant size/age and/or the fact it's still in the five gallon can. If it cooperated, there are hips out front from its pollen. Fingers are crossed...for us both! Good luck! Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Puzzlement

Puzzlement ...

It's lovely -- BUT OMG!! Those prickles!!! WOWIE!

Melissa, your baby has such attractive foliage. And disease-free? Whatever the flowers look like, I think you've probably got a nice garden plant that the bees will like. Sweet!

Kim, I like the foliage of 'Puzzlement' a lot also, but I'm not too sure about those prickles...

Virginia

Very nice--congratulations!

What is your impression of Fedtschenkoana's scent? do you actually find it unpleasant, as some sources say?

"Puzzlement"--haha. How 'bout "I Dunno Kno" or "How Dis Happen"?

Those prickles are right in line with Fedtschenkoana. Many of its seedlings have sharp, bristly, dense prickles at their lower extremities, with a few actually becoming nearly prickle-free toward their tops. Stellata's aren't nearly as dense, but they are formidable.

"Linseed Oil" is a very apt description of Fedtschenkoana's flower scent. The first time I smelled it, I literally thought, "old, stale oil-based house paint". If that's unpleasant to you, then yes, it's unpleasant. But, some people actually don't find skunk stink "unpleasant", so I guess it's your call as how unpleasant it is. But, that's one of the things that intrigued me about the plant. Foetida has a very similar flower scent and that, when combined with the Damask and other Old European Garden Rose scents gave rise to the "fruity" types found in its descendents. I guess it shouldn't be surprising as any trait found in one plant part is capable of eventually expressing itself in others. Foetida has new growth tips, sepals and peduncles scented like Juicy Fruit Gum.

Nope, "Puzzlement" was the perfect choice of a name. One of my all time favorite movies is Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner in "The King and I". Kim

I have one of Kim's babies, 'DLFED 3', and it bloomed for its first time this year. When I sniffed the blooms, the first thing which came to my mind was the scent of greasepaint stage makeup (I used to do theatre years ago). My 'R. fedtschenkoana' didn't bloom yet, but did send up a sucker which has grown to over 3 feet in height, so maybe next year.

:-)

~Christopher

That's interesting, Christopher. DLFED 3 has some of the linseed oil element, but with some of the sweetness from Dottie Louise. Ironically, it's more fragrant than Dottie Louise was. I'm glad it's working for you. Kim

My dad was a painter and decorator by trade.....I LOVE the smell of Fedschenkoana (along with those rice paper blooms).....takes me right back to my childhood, helping my dad to clean his brushes (the finest sable for sign-writing and badger, squirrel and even horse for other stuff), oiling them and lining them out in individual boxes. The smell of turpentine is also deeply evocative.

Kim, I think the one you gave me is 0-47-19DLFED. It is growing on an arch now opposite to a rambler called Eichsfeldia that had similar small white flowers. What I really love about this rose is the foliage. The canes and stems are barely visible. Also while its partner Eichsfeldia mildewed rather badly 0-47-19DLFED was perfectly healthy. It deserves to be named and honored.
Melissa good luck with your seedling.

Hi Pamela, I'm glad that is performing well for you. It IS a nice rose, I just had no where to grow climbers, so I passed it on to you. Perhaps one of these days, should I be graced with somewhere suitable for a rambler, I might beg cuttings back, please? Have you any ideas for a suitable name or person to honor with it? Thank you! Kim

I like the scent of R. fedtschenkoana. It brings back happy memories. Flax is something horsemen have recommended for ages to improve manes, tails, and the overall coats on horses. An old horseman told me how to prepare it. Buy loose flax seeds. Put a scoop in a bucket and add a cup of boiling water. Let steep for a good 20 minutes so that the oil starts to escape the seeds, then add regular grain ration and feed. So I associate the smell with happy horses munching their evening meal. The scent reminds me of food! So I have hunted it out in other roses and found it also in R. foetida 'Persiana' and R. alabukensis.

Melissa

I'll be thinking about it Kim. t's a very different and special rose, not the rose for everyone. I'd be influenced if one of my friends took a liking to it.

That scent came from R. Laxa into several of the Buck roses, too. Isabella Skinner also smells like Foetida, also from Laxa. Thank you, Pamela. I appreciate the help! Kim

This post was edited by roseseek on Wed, Aug 27, 14 at 20:19