How are roses made? Are roses all “hybrids?” Theses are a few of the questions Master Volunteers are asked. These videos will help to answer these questions.
HOW ARE ROSES MADE? Most of the roses are HYBRIDS, meaning, a cross of one variety with another. Below, Paul Zimmerman of Ashdown Roses interviews Brad Jalbert of Select Roses in Canada. He will show how the pollen is collected from one rose, and put on another. A hip is then formed, which produces seeds. These seeds are planted and those that grown are evaluated. Brad mentions that is his operation, 10,000 seeds are planted, and after a couple years, maybe 3 are good enough to introduce. As a point of comparison, Weeks Roses plants 250,000 seeds each year, and after 12 years, they may introduce 5 of those.
The following video is of Ping Lim, award winning hybridizer of Baily Roses. He is the hybridizer of Love and Peace.
It is also important to know about how roses are propagated. Most roses are “budded” onto root stock, though the practice of using “own root” roses is gaining traction and there is quite a debate now going ion in the rose world. This video shows how roses are “budded” onto root stock, in this case, Dr. Huey.
A professional “budder” can complete this task is seconds. Watch this 2 minutes video to see a professional in action! (NOTE: they are budding small tree roses.)
WIth budded plants, you may have the need to deal with “Suckers” or “Root Stock” growing from below the bud. This video expalins what to do when this happens:
