There is an alternative to genetic studies for determining ancestry of a puzzling cross. I'm interested in hardy citrus, and I keep finding parallels between citrus and roses. Both include tropical, subtropical, and temperate species that have been crossed all kinds of ways. The example I have in mind is the Yuzu, a tart citrus fruit prized by Japanese cooks with a loose sweet edible skin. It is much hardier than most citrus. A number of crosses have been made between Citrus inchangensis and Satsuma resulting each time in something remarkably like Yuzu. It's true that when you make a cross so wide that the result is ovule sterile, as seems the case with Banshee, that you seem to get a lot of sports. We have assumed that the variations in Banshee are sports, but what if some of them are the same cross repeated? What could we try crossing to see if we can get Banshee again? The candidates I would consider would be our various native species and damasks, centifolias, gallicas. When you are out in your garden in spring, if you want an excuse to spend a bit more time there, you might want to do some deliberate pollination by one of these species onto one of the others that you know makes hips. Mark the blossom stem in case it makes a hip. If it does, be sure to include what the pollen was if you are doing several crosses. Experts go through a lot of trouble to keep the bees away and to get ripe pollen, but I think this is a fine job for some of us worthless lackadaisical wannabees to do our stuff. All we want is some seed from one plant that makes seedlings that look nothing like the parent. If you don't mind sowing some virginiana seed in hopes that you'll find one extremely different seedling, it won't matter all that much if the bees got to the flower too. (Although it might be better if the flower can't find anything except the weird foreign pollen you added.) If a couple of years from now someone on this forum says hey, I crossed this and that and one of the seedlings is looking a lot like Banshee, we will all sit up and take notice. Then others will try the same cross and maybe we'll prove, us simple amateurs, something that has had us wondering for a long time. One or two of the big name rose people who pay attention to something besides HT's will eventually write it up in a book and we'll all have to find some other mystery to solve.

Cherries vary one kind to another on resistance. In our area research at Mt Vernon WA has listed recommended ones more well suited. I went for that which is why I had long ago went with Surefire and the sweet cherry Early Burlat. Over the years my Burlat had been as disease free as the Japanese types of flowering cherries (shirofugen, prunus osima zakura etc.) And superior to others in my neighborhood. One main problem is the flowers bloom to early on the hill heights area in Vancouver WA (above Portland) and even though the bloom is rain resistant the bees are not pollinating during poor conditions and thus little fruit. I must hand pollinate. Other than the above remedy of selecting the right ones and about later bee friendly blooming ones you could try the idea of hand pollinating. I always set fruit on Burlat from Van cherry from my little greenhouse. In your case a Burlat flower from one you could graft to CJ tree could be dried indoors, possibly store it in fridge for a few days, and applied to CJ flowers. Even though nothing that I know of can be found to spray on to prevent infections you can still "wait and see". By that I mean to get your tree to over about 5 years of age because age 2-4 is the most prone years according to tests done West of the Cascades in Oregon.

I have a collection of Award of Excellence Roses. I have been collecting them since 1982. Let me first list those I cannot find anywhere which have succumbed to old age (I need cuttings for these.) White Angel Lavender Lace Gloriglo Zinger Holy Toledo NightHawk Centerpiece Suzy Regine Lemon Gems Applause Playgold Ruby Jingle Bells That seems like a long list of needs but 20 years of Lttle League and Bobby Sox can really get in the way of tending roses. Here are what I have available for trade cuttings sent using the burrito method: Baby Eclipse Red Cascade Jeanne Lejoie Life Lines Center Gold Old Glory Heavenly Days Dee Bennett Tipper Jim Dandy Jean Kenneally Rainbow's End Sequoia Gold Ring of Fire Black Jade Winsome Little Jackie Hot Shot Julie Ann Party Girl Cornsilk Cupcake Valerie Jeanne Snow Bride Hombre Pacesetter Peaches n Cream Red Flush Puppy Love Pink Petticoat Rise n Shine Humdinger Avandel Hula Girl Starglo Toy Clown Sherri Ann Beauty Secret Mary Marshall Judy Fischer Over the Rainbow Hot Tamale Email me if you want to talk more. RC

" M. Karl Koch, in a recent lecture on fruit-trees, says he has heard in the East that some of our races of dessert Pears have descended from a hybrid or hybrids obtained between the Pear and the Quince—both of which fruits are much more variable than is generally supposed—from the latter of which they have obtained flavor and aroma. Some kind of Pears now grown closely resemble the Quince in shape, colour, and peculiarly long calyx-lobes, as well as aroma and flavor ; and that such hybridity is not improbable may to a certain extent be assumed, seeing that some races of Pear show a marked preference for the Quince stock, while others succeed only on the free stock or Pear. " " Thus it is a well-known fact that some varieties of Pear will not unite readily with the Quince or Hawthorn stocks, and this difficulty is surmounted by the use of 'intermediate' stocks. The Quince is grafted with the scion of a Pear which is known to unite readily and succeed well on it as a stock, and on this is worked the variety of Pear which refuses to unite well with the Quince. […] and we have many records of Pears being altered in size, colour, flavour, and time of ripening, owing to their having been grafted on the Quince stock. " Cultivated Plants: Their Propagation and Improvement, p600, signed and dated by the author, F. W. Burbidge in the year 1888 (yes, this book is very old)