Rose breeders are always looking for something new—blue roses, continuous bloomers, roses that flower in the shade and plants that are absolutely impervious to climate change, pests and diseases. This has been going on for centuries, but in an era when breeding advances can be communicated around the world in an instant, the hunt for the unusual has become intense. Now an American rose breeder named James A. Sproul of Bakersfield, California, has brought out a new and different series of roses. The series name is Eyeconic and the shrubs are getting increasing amounts of ink in catalogs and the garden press.
The Eyeconic series includes four varieties: ‘Lemonade,’ ‘Pink Lemonade,’ and the lesser known ‘Melon Lemonade’ and ‘Pomegranate Lemonade.’ Catalog vendors seem to carry only the first two. Both ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Pink Lemonade’ are medium size bushes, growing to around four feet tall and three feet tall respectively. The flowers are semi-double with eight to ten petals apiece. Yellow-flowered ‘Lemonade’ has a vivid red splotch at the base of each petal. ‘Pink Lemonade’ has medium pink flowers with darker pink blotches at the petals’ bases. Both are repeat bloomers and both are extremely striking.
The Eyeconic roses are the result of a mixed marriage that came about after years of horticultural matchmaking. One of the series’ parent varieties may or may not be a true rose, depending on whom you ask. The whole Eyeconic matchmaking process would be exciting stuff, if only it hadn’t happened at a pace that would make a snail race look speedy.
For centuries or even millennia, a plant, known alternately as Rosa persica or Hulthemia persica or even Rosa berberifolia has grown in parts of Iran and Afghanistan. This rose or rose relative has never been much to write home about. It blooms only once a year, has long canes loaded with hooked prickles and a ferocious suckering habit. Instead of the attractive compound leaves common to true roses, hulthemia features single gray-green leaves. Some sources suggest that people native to the same areas as hulthemia regard it as a weed.
Hulthemia’s redeeming virtue is its flowers. They are single, with five petals apiece, just like single roses. The species’ blooms are bright yellow with a brownish-red splotch at the base of each petal. Taken together, these splotches form an “eye” or “eye zone” and the eye is the unique feature that has made rose breeder’s hearts thump loudly for years. Other rose species simply do not have it.
The first matchmaking attempts were made by an Englishman, the late Jack Harkness, who bred roses for his family’s firm from 1964 until his death in 1994. Obtaining seeds from Rosa persica/Hulthemia persica, Harkness set about the business of trying to breed reblooming rose varieties that had the characteristic hulthemia eyes. Harkness introduced four hulthemia/rose varieties: ‘Euphrates,’ ‘Tigris,’ ‘Nigel Hawthorne’ and ‘Xerxes.’ Of these roses, none were reliable rebloomers and only ‘Tigris’ produced viable seed for future crosses. The matchmaking efforts continued, with further crosses made by Harkness and other breeders in England and America.
According to James Sproul, who wrote about the breeding process in a 2007 article, the genes that produce the hulthemia eyes seem to be linked to genes for non-repeat blooming. Modern mass market buyers expect roses to rebloom reliably, which made the matchmaking an even greater challenge.
In his article, Sproul predicted that either the Harkness firm or one of the other breeders mentioned would make a hulthemia breakthrough and have a reblooming rose with eyes ready for introduction within five years. Sproul did it himself and introduced ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Pink Lemonade’ in 2011. The plants are sold by the Pennsylvania-based wholesaler, Star Roses. Star, in turn provides the plants to retailers and catalog vendors.
Buying an Eyeconic rose right now is a little like buying a new car model right after it is introduced—it looks great on the lot and on paper, but it is too soon to know whether it is as good as it is cracked up to be. If you love roses, have a little sunny space and an adventurous nature, give it a try. From the catalog and website descriptions, the only downside that I can see is that the Eyeconics have little fragrance.
Being a fashion forward rose lover, I will probably order one. If space or an abundance of caution or any one of a number of other factors keeps you from taking the plunge, don’t worry. If the Eyeconic series catches on, the roses and others developed by competing breeders will be everywhere within the next few years. You will be able to take your pick. It is a win-win situation for gardeners.
For right now, you can order an Eyeconic rose bush from Wayside Gardens, 1 Garden Lane, Hodges, SC 29695; (800) 845-1124; www.waysidegardens.com. Free catalog.