I usually only have PM on a couple of roses... this year Distant Drums is covered from head to toe in blackspot. Very unusual for this locale. Had to shovel prune, although there is not another rose that looks quite like it out there...

How does this compare to Mr Lincoln or Black Magic, as I have both of these in my
garden now. Does it have the velvet texture ? How long do the blooms last? --K Haas

Many years ago, I'd read that R. Fedtschenkoana was a tetraploid, it has the same number of chromosomes as modern roses, and that it repeated its bloom over the summer. I was looking for a "species" rose which hadn't been over used creating modern roses, and which had characteristics I liked and wanted to include in a breeding line. This one seemed to fit what I wanted. I shouldn't encounter creating sterile offspring with odd numbers of chromosomes, as had occurred with Teas and Rugosas, as this had matching sets with the modern roses I'd be using. It has beautiful, unusual foliage, with an odd scent. I knew what had come of using Foetida with the roses of the day, and wondered what could be gotten from this one. The problem was, it wasn't easily obtained.

R. Fedtschenkoana wasn't in the Huntington Library Study Plot, where the species and Old Garden Roses were grown. None of my usual sources offered it and the one I had found who did offer it, didn't have it available.

Our volunteer group at The Huntington was quite active in those years. A wonderful volunteer had received a rather nasty diagnosis, she had inoperable brain cancer. Joan Kennedy had a beautiful garden in the La Canada/Flintridge area and she was no longer able to care for it. As it was spring, we decided the volunteer group should visit and clean her garden for her. I forget how many of us made it out to Joan's that Saturday, but I'll always remember how touched she was we had made the effort and came to see her. Each of us took an area and began cleaning and pruning out the dead growth and weeds. I was sent out to the fence area where her garden bordered a large park area. She grew species along that fence. One plant I found sure seemed to fit the description of R. Fedtschenkoana. When we stopped for lunch under her enormous oak tree, I asked her what the plant was. She replied it WAS Fedtschenkoana and she loved it. I told her of my quest for it and what I thought it might produce and she begged me to take as much of the stand as I wanted. She didn't have to offer it twice!

I only dug the suckers which threatened to devour her lawn, and those filled a trash bag. Each was lovingly potted that afternoon when I returned to my garden. The weather was already turning hot, yet those suckers all took. Every single, invasive one grew into lovely, interesting plants. The new growth tips and foliage showed lavender tints with reddish prickles. And, there was the most amazing scent to the new growth! It immediately impressed me as resembling that of a freshly cut Noble Fir Christmas tree in a room with a hardwood fire. It was fresh, and the Christmas tree impression felt "joyful" to me. As the growth matured, it did take on the "ghostly" impressions I'd read of. The mature leaves do have a sort of silvery white cast over the light green base. The growth matured quickly! This rose wants to GROW!

It didn't bloom until the next spring, and I eagerly awaited experiencing the scent I'd read of. It had been described as Linseed Oil, much like the scent of R. Foetida. Yup, that it was! The quarter sized flowers were a clean, pure white and were sprinkled over the tops of the new canes. Each was held on short, nearly mossy, stems. Each stem and new growth tip continued to offer the Noble Fir and hardwood smoke scent. The combination of the two scents was most unusual.

I'd found homes for nearly all of the potted suckers, and planted the largest pot out on the edge of my garden where I thought I could afford to allow it to roam. It didn't take long for it to create a stand of about ten by ten feet. It slowly expanded each year and provided many suckers over many years. I tried nearly every pollen I could think of on it, as well as its pollen on every roses which had proven very fertile. Nothing came of any of my efforts for some years. The plant would make its elongated, brilliant red hips, each containing a few seeds, but nothing germinated from any of them. Eventually, I obtained two small seedlings from one cross of Fedtschenkoana on Orangeade. I'd discovered through studying breeding reports that Orangeade could nearly be pollinated with dirt. It is that fertile! It was obvious the two seedlings were not self fertilized. They resembled the species with the odd scent, which Orangeade doesn't have. In this cross, however, the Noble Fir and hardwood smoke scent had changed to more of a Pine scent. They grew for two years before they offered any flowers. And, they got BIG!

One of the two seedlings remained at about four to five feet, quite bushy and a very vigorous spreader. The flowers were a light pink, deeper than a blush pink, with about three to four rows of petals. The flowers seldom opened fully, remaining more of a tulip shape. They were carried on the expected short stems, still "mossy", but with the pine type scent. They did, however, contain the expected Foetida-type odor. What was most interesting was the buds appeared at leaf axis along the top six inches of each cane, unlike the species, which were mainly at the very ends of the canes.

The second Orangeade seedling very quickly outgrew its one gallon can and suckered throughout the planter the can was set in to keep track of it. It was so small, and really didn't seem to pose that much of a threat to the surrounding areas. Before I knew it, this rose was popping up all along the fire road which bordered the garden! It infiltrated the other pots and narrowed the already insufficient path on the other side of the planter. This one pushed canes to well over seven feet, and most of them carried several blooms on longer stems and mostly at the cane tops like the species. While the first seedling described above, mostly bloomed during spring type weather, this one bloomed from spring to fall! The flowers contained two to three rows of petals. The pointed, small buds were a blush pink, expanding to large, pure white open blooms, showing many stamen. And, yes, it smelled like the species and its sister seedling. This one also produced the same brilliant red, elongated hips, only much larger and with larger, more plentiful seeds. I've not germinated any as I've not had the intestinal fortitude to deal with what they might produce!

Both of these seedlings are deciduous, as is their parent. Both provide very nice autumnal foliage, as does the species. The Orangeade genes not only altered the white flowers to pink, but also intensified the seasonal foliage colors. And, just as the species, they are wickedly prickly!

I'd initially hoped to include Fedtschenkoana in my seedlings because there were no known hybrids of it. Why spend time reproducing what others have already done? You can imagine my surprise when recent enzyme tests showed this species helped create Autumn Damask! The species no one apparently had ever deliberately used, already contributed to Old Garden Roses. OK, then, what if I added genes not previously used, then replicated some of the known crosses which led to modern roses? I decided to try Fedtschenkoana pollen on Dottie Louise, my Orangeade X Basye's Legacy cross. Dottie Louise is also quite fertile and is half Orangeade, so it should work. It worked like a charm, resulting in eight or nine widely varying seedlings. Now that Lynnie, a parallel cross with Dottie Louise, has proven so healthy and arctic hardy, I must begin with Fedtschenkoana on her. But, these are other stories.

Joan passed away later that summer. I did have the opportunity to share with her how well her Fedtschenkoana had grown in their pots, and how I'd been able to spread her beloved rose to others who also wanted to grow it. Rose lovers are a wonderfully generous lot. These seedlings represent Joan's generosity, for which I shall always be grateful.

I have been looking for a Magic Lantern rose. Heirloom Roses in St. Paul suggested I contact your nursery. Can you help locate this rose for me?