I'm quite keen on attempting to hybridize 'the monster' do you know if it's still around, and if so do you have any idea how amenable Mr Tunningley would be to giving out cuttings?
Robert, Ragionieri stated that his successful crosses are these, all from single flowered varieties.
1) R. Banksiae lutea simplex x R. Noisettiana Lamarque 2) R. Banksiae alba simplex x R. bengalensis fl. roseo pl. 3) R. Banksiae alba simplex x Fortune's Yellow 4) R. Banksiae lutea simplex x Safrano
In the second to last paragraph of his article, he specified that 'Di Castello' had been raised from "the simple R. Banksiae lutea with Lamarque." Simple = Single, in this case. Karl
Thanks for your input. I've managed to raise hundreds of banksia derivatives now on both the diploid level and then integrating them into tetra genomes.
But for a few early exceptions they have not been input into the HMF database.
A number have been field tested but as they are primarily pink and white polys there has been little interest for commercial introduction.
Hopefully some day a few will find a home and someone who appreciates them. Many are already lost and more being lost everyday as I've moved on to other projects.
Robert, Well, there are plenty of pink and white polys, but are yours as tolerant of dry, alkaline soil as the Banksiaes? That would be a great thing for my neighborhood.
It is sad that the yellow hasn't yet been carried into the poly-types. That was my second wish for the Banksiaes, right after violet perfume. I've been watching some very small yellow Banksiaes down the street that taunt me. More floriferous than most forsythias, and no more inclined to rebloom.
I noticed that you have Rosa cymosa. Have you crossed it with a R. banksiae? I would be interested to learn how the fused-styles trait is passed along. I have grown two Polys (Sweet Chariot and OSO Easy Cherry Pie) that had their styles pressed into a column but not fused. Cymosa-Banksiae hybrids might shed some light ... maybe R. cymosa isn't really a Synstyle ... or maybe R. banksiae really is. Karl
Karl, there are several yellow poly types. Schmidt's Smooth Yellow, which may be either Eugenie Lamesch or George Elger; Etoile de Mai; Perle d'Or, Sunshine...
Kim, I have grown 'Perle d'Or' (love it) and 'Etoile de Mai' (not much more color than 'Lamarque'). And I know and admire 'Sunshine' from the Heritage Rose Garden.
But the problem is that crossing any of the yellow polyantha-type varieties with, say, 'Gloria Mundi', will result in perfume rather than yellow color. That's why I have (had?) hopes for R. banksiae lutea. It combines something of the cluster habit (small flowers with more than a few blooms per cluster) with the inability to degrade carotene.
However, it would be handy to have some of the smaller-flowered yellows on hand to compare with the yellow Banksiaes that are currently blooming. Come to think of it, I'll take a tape measure along when my dog and I go for our next walk (any minute now). That way I can get pics with measurements. Karl
Robert, Your picture of R. cymosa buds looks like I'd expect. The cluster is not too different from R. multiflora, in regards to the branching.
Most of the pictures I've seen of R. banksiae have each cluster on a short, leafy stem. But what I'm seeing locally do not. I'm not sure what to make of this. Maybe it's because the plants are really short ... around four feet. I just don't know how there could be a connection. https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.327711 Karl
What's shown in that photo, Karl, are immature, new buds forming. I see it regularly. As they mature, the stems lengthen and the buds swell. By "super sized" form of Banksiae, Robert, are you referring to General Vallejo's Banksiae? I have yet to find any pollen in any of its flowers and it hasn't set seed for me while Lutescens sets them regularly.
Here is a bud from Lutescens and then buds from General Vallejo's Yellow Banksiae. Then, there is a General Vallejo emasculated and petaloids instead of stamen and anthers. OK, it won't allow me to add photos. We'll see if the Help Desk can fix it in time to do it later.
Thanks, Margaret, but it isn't working on Google Chrome. I just retried it. I get 302 Google Found The document has moved here. Except, when I click the "here", it goes to a blank page with nothing there and never changes.
And, I just moved over to Firefox and it does precisely the same thing, only it says 302 Firefox Found.
Kim, You are correct. I went out again and had a closer look. Sure enough, there are leaves on the short stems.
And Robert is probably right, too. The short stems would probably be longer, and there would be more flowers to the cluster if the plants weren't being whacked back every year. These are not in a commercial setting, just scrambling over a chainlink fence in someone's back yard.
In my travels I have been amused at how often I find 'Ragged Robin' and 'Dr. Huey' growing in yards, where the current residents don't even know what was originally growing on the stocks. It seems that R. banksiae is one of those easy-to-root varieties that gets spread around and few have the heart to remove something that just keeps on surviving. Karl
Robert, I think I'm losing my mind again with all the synonyms. Your picture suggests that R. cymosa has its styles exserted and in a column. Are they fused or loose? https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.196808
Willmott (1914) states that the styles of R. sorbiflora are free, while HMF lists this as a synonym for R. cymosa. I'm getting lost. Karl
"R. banksiae lutescens is the single form, not the double form. Is this a mistake or did Mansuino use R. banksias lutea?"
We have only Mansuino's records as reference. I would take him at his word though I have never been successful with my own limited experiments using banksia lutea.
Banksia lutescens is much more fertile and can be used as seed or pollen parent though I have only used it for pollen.
I am a student of the Chiba University gardening department. It is a research theme to perform the mating that I used Rosa banksiae. I am not good at English. If there is the person whom Japanese can understand, I want a reply in Japanese.
