I have found this rose to sucker aggressively, even though it is growing in rather dense shade for a rose. This year it also is showing some yellowing foliage and some die-back. Maybe the shade has gotten to dense over the years. It always blooms nicely in May. Now it is setting hips. I wonder why it has no descendants.
Hi, About 20 years ago I got 1 stem with almost no root from a very, very, very old plant and it has grown as hell and suckered too. Today I have 2 big compact plants with suckers almost everywhere around. No much care, almost "wild" and they bloom well in May too, I got 6 red hips and I asked in the forum section if this rose has descendants and if someone would be willing to try to grow them (with no guarantee of any success). Margaret Furness replied me that 'La Belle Sultane' actually has descendants. As a premium member, you can go to the "Lineage" tab to find the descendants. Greetings !
Have a look at the second part of heritagerosesdotorgdotau/articles/rose-breeding/ (replace dot with .) to see how Warren Millington handles seed. Note that it was written for the southern hemisphere, so you'll need to change the timing.
Thank you very much Margaret. This article is very interesting (and this blog seems to be a gold mine for learning). But I am absolutely unexperienced and I am scrared to do this especially that I have only 6 hips. This is why I "send an SOS" in the hope that an experienced person, not necessarily a professional, would be willing to help/take the process.
I can't help from this distance. But a few points for a beginner: the hip contains a growth inhibitor, so you have to cut into it and take the seeds out: don't plant the whole hip. If you're going to plant in autumn, or if you don't have a cold winter, you'll need to put the seeds in the crisper (vegetable compartment) of your fridge for a few weeks first. One method is to put them between two damp (not wet) kitchen sponges, and put that into a sealed plastic container. When you plant the seeds, don't use heating underneath the pot - most roses evolved in cold-winter climates. Good luck!
Thank you Margaret. Haha, no, you physically can't but you help otherwise. Ok, the inhibitor makes sense otherwise the seeds would grow on the mother plant itself, wouldn't they ? What is the best periode for harvesting the hips (it's full Summer here now) ? Do I need to wait until the hips are totally red ? few already are completly dark red but the others still are green/redish. The region where I live (Brittany) is not reputated for having regular rough winters (we benefit of the Gulf Steam passage), it's rather rainy so I will do as you say.
Mervey, George Thomson says that if any part of the hip has ripe colouring, the seeds are ripe enough to plant. He plants in mid-winter (after putting them in the fridge). Warren Millington says that he would harvest seeds from late summer to mid-autumn, and put the seeds in the fridge for 6 weeks. Both of them are in areas with relatively mild winters. Maybe someone from the northern hemisphere would like to add advice.
Margaret, you have a true gift for making complicated things simple and you give me courage, thank you very much :-) I think I am going to choose Warren Millington's method, it seems to fit better to my conditions.
I won't forget to update my progress (or my failure, haha !) at time.
Sorry, I didn't realise that there actually is a 'Belle Sultane', Hybrid Alpina, here on HMF. I've posted the pictures there now, so you could delete this if it is possible.
I'm in SW Missouri, zone 6. I bought and planted La Belle Sultane in spring of 2009 grafted onto multiflora from Pickering. Much to my surprise I got a few blooms that first year. The spring of 2010 I got a wonderful show of blooms covering the bush, which consisted of many canes about 5 feet long. The shrub grew by about half that year.
La Belle Sultane blooms mid May for me, which is unfortunately around the time we get a lot of spring storms. These destroy the blooms. I'm going to cover the bush this year but that may turn out to be too much trouble. I'm very disappointed as pictures really don't do the beauty of this rose justice.
Leaves are perfectly healthy all season except when eaten by Japanese beetles. Rose isn't defoliated and recovers easily.
Rose was planted in un-amended soil in my no-spray garden.
