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New Barden Roses Announced For 2008
As many of you now know, Rogue Valley Roses, owned by the charming Janet Inada is now the primary agent for my roses, both older and new. Rogue Valley Roses has recently posted the three new Barden roses on the web site (www.roguevalleyroses.com) and they are now available to the public. This month I want to take a few minutes to tell you a bit about these roses and their development.
In March of 2003 I sowed my crop of seeds from the previous Summer and this seedling appeared among the results. At first I thought it was just a curiosity, with its bicolored blooms, but it had nice foliage so I kept it. As is often the case, its real merits were not apparent until it had grown into a mature specimen; it bloomed prolifically, often nearly obscuring the foliage, it produces huge clusters on the new basals, it is a tight, rounded bush that stays compact and mannerly with minimal care, and it has excellent disease resistance. As a bonus, it has a very pleasant moderate Clove fragrance. In the test garden, it was the one plant that always caught people's attention because of its bright color and healthy demeanor. A single photo doesn't show you what a great little shrub this is, but you can at least get an impression of the blooms. It remains compact at about 2.5 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. 'Incantation' is a great selection for container growing. 'Umbra' is my new Gallica hybrid, bred from 'Tuscany Superb' and 'William Lobb', the latter being one of the best old mauve Mosses. The Gallicas are best suited to climates that have some real Winter cold, as they require an extended chill period in order to bloom properly. (Sufficient chill would be an accumulation of about 30 days of night temps below 40F, approx) 'Umbra' was bred in 1999 and has been in my test garden for many years now, where it has prospered in a state of considerable neglect! In spite of the harsh treatment it does very well and remains extremely healthy. I have introduced this rose at the prompting of several friends who have seen and admired it in the garden. Although 'Umbra' is more upright than most Gallicas, it has fortunately not inherited the rangey semi-climbing habit of 'William Lobb', which I feel is a good thing.
The third of my new roses for 2008 is a Tea (not Hybrid Tea, note) called 'Won Fang Yon', bred in 2003 from the Moore Miniature 'Avandel' and the lovely Tea rose 'Mons. Tillier'. While most of the offspring from this group were dwarf plants and Minis, this one stood out, with its full sized blooms and vigorous, well-rounded growth habit. While this apears to have better Winter hardiness than the pure bred Teas, I doubt this rose will be suitable for climates much colder than USDA Zone 7, perhaps Zone 6 with significant protection. The blooms are fully double in the Tea style, in a pretty coral/light red hue that deepens and becomes more red with age and exposure to sun. Unfortunately this rose did not inherit any of the fragrance of its Tea parent, which is a shame. Still, I really like the flower shape, its generous bloom production (It is more free-blooming than most Teas) and its graceful, compact growth habit. I have yet to see this rose exceed 4 X 4 feet and requires very little in the way of pruning and maintenance. You will likely find that it makes a long lasting cut flower also. As far as disease resistance is concerned, it is better than many shrubs but if Blackspot is a severe problem in your garden, you will likely need to provide protection from this disease. Both photos below are 'Won Fang Yon'. Click here to see a photo of one of the sibling seedlings from the same cross. As many of you already know, Rogue Valley Roses is now the primary retail distributor for my roses. You can find more information about all three of these, and many other Barden hybrids on their web site. Other contact information is below the photos:
Select roses and pick up orders Wednesdays 2:00 to 6:00 There
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Pictured at right is the new shrub rose named 'Incantation'. Bred in 2002 from 'Condoleezza', a mossy Floribunda of Ralph Moore's and the intense red Mini Moss 'Scarlet Moss'. (Note: at the time I was using 'Condoleezza' as a breeding plant, it was still just a code numbered seedling, unregistered) 'Condoleezza' is a 2 to 3 foot Floribunda type shrub with loosely Hybrid Tea-shaped flowers in a glowing pink with a soft yellow heart. I have used it for several years as a seed parent because it is easy to breed and every seed germinated. Although it rarely passes on good mossing, I discovered that it is capable of breeding bicolored seedlings with color on top of the petals and a paler reverse, usually white or soft yellow. 
'Umbra' is a once-bloomer, like both of its parents, producing a full display of bloom in late Spring/early Summer. It flowers with clusters of three to nine blooms on a shoot, each as large as 4.5 inches in diameter. In rich soils the blooms will be closer to the 4.5 inch size. They start as a blend of mauve and crimson, leaning heavily toward the cooler deep mauve hue and with age they "blue" significantly, ending an almost slate-grey/blue color. When grown in semi-shade, it takes on a remarkable bluish-grey color as the bloom nears the end of its life. As you would expect, it has a delicious "Old Rose" fragrance that is somewhat spicy in tone. The shrub itself is upright but well branched, to between 5 and 7 feet tall, and half as wide. In mild climates I could see it potentially being trained as a climber, if grown in rich soil.
