New from Brad Jalbert: Rose Hybrids Available for Custom Naming 2010

Have you ever wondered how roses get their names or wanted to name one after a loved one? One of the most unique gifts imaginable, having a rose named after someone is truly special way to immortalize a special person in your life. The proccess of having a rose named in itself is actually very simple. The real difficulty is in hybridizing a rose that's worthy of naming!

I've been hybridizing roses since the very early beginnings of Select Roses in 1990 and continue to find it one of the great pleasures of my life and rose passion.

My breeding work is very simple. I listen to my heart, my rose friends and try to breed roses that people will enjoy and can grow easily! Resistance to disease combined with a strong hardy growth habit is something I'm always working hard to achieve. Each summer I make hundreds of crosses resulting in about 3000 to 5000 seedlings. Rose seedlings can be difficult to germinate and it's not unusual to have less than 50% germinate. The baby roses bloom during the first season and are quickly weeded out if they show signs of disease or other undesirable characteristics.

Out of those 3000 to 5000 seedlings the first year, only the most promising 100 or so will be kept for further consideration. The top 100 seedlings are submitted to a second year of testing and subjected to constant evaluation. Over the next few years these roses will go through a selection process based on their uniqueness and other attributes that will make them a suitable introduction to the market.

Select Roses is pleased to introduce, after five or more years of rigorous scrutiny, perhaps three out of the original 3000 seedlings to the world rose market.

We pride ourselves in introducing only those varieties that shown superior performance and features that will make them a pleasure for home gardeners to grow. Select Roses, although a small company in the world or rose breeding, has introduced some of the most unique roses on the market today. Our roses have received high praise in gardens all across Canada and the USA. I'm very honored to have my creations grown and enjoyed by gardeners all across Canada and I look forward to developing more interesting and beautiful roses for you to enjoy!

The following rose hybrids "naming rights" available for and will be introduced in the 2009 year. For further details or email Brad directly at selectroses@shaw.ca .

Seedling: Jalgoldie

Miniature rose. Perfect in foliage, plant habit thanks to its parent Lasting Love. Every rose I have bred from Lasting Love seems to have inherited that parents lustrous glossy foliage and dense tidy plant habit. The flowers are typical mini size, but the plant is extremely robust growing. You will enjoy countless roses born in heavy waves all summer long. Colour varies between shimmering deep golden yellow, to a buff peach. Foliage is always dense, ultra glossy green and healthy. This rose possess all the qualities I could ever ask for in a true miniature rose.

Naming price: $5500.00 cdn

Seedling: Jalpurple

Miniature rose. Deep mauve purple, heavy substance and perfect little roses have made this gem a favourite of mine during the testing phase.

The plant, foliage and flower is typical of a classic miniature rose. Blooms are about 1.25 inches, on a compact bushy 14 inch growing plant. There is a light sweet rose perfume to grace each flower as well. Foliage is dark glossy green and healthy. An ideal rose for larger pots, borders or rock gardens.

Naming price: $4000.00 cdn

Seedling: Jallucious

Miniflora. Bright shimmering red with highly polished foliage set this set this rose apart from others in her class. Bred from the pollen of the famous and highly fragrant Lasting Love rose.

My baby inherited its glossy foliage and strong damask rose fragrance. Growth habit is bushy and upright to just under 2 feet, with large fully double pointed buds that open slowly to long lasting decorative form roses. The heavy petal substance and fragrance make this type of rose popular with people who enjoy cutting roses for the house.

Naming price: $5500.00 cdn

This is an elegant long stem  Mini-flora with classic pointed flowers. The colour is deep pure mauve which is a very difficult colour to breed in roses.

She has the strongest most powerful fragrance I have ever smelled on a mini-flora. The fragrance is sweet citrus with strong lemon overtones. The plant habit is strong upright and wide to just under two feet. Like most mauve roses, she is at her best with good rose culture. The fragrance on this lovely rose is unique and one you will never forget! Stunning as a cut flower. Flower size is about 2.5 inches, typical of most mini floras.

Naming price: $5500.00 cdn

Seedling: Jaloranges

This is a hybrid out of the world famous and top selling "Living Easy" rose. Much like its Daddy, baby is healthy, robust and very free blooming. The colours are warm soft orange with a glowing centre opening to a boss of gold stamens. The foliage is light green further enchancing this charming little rose. Plant habit is true miniature about 12 inches in height with flowers of one inch size, born in clusters. Jaloranges is an ideal little garden rose for pots, rockeries or borders. I also love the unique pointed petals. Unlike many roses, this gem looks beautiful at all stages, from bud to fully open.

Naming price: $4000.00 cdn

We are constantly evaluating our hybrid seedlings and would be happy
to share pictures and information if you do not see one here you like. Contact Brad Jalbert for full details on our custom rose naming program.

A little bit more on whats so special about these roses...

I spend some of my time, well to much of it hybridizing new roses! I love the work and love creating new and interesting roses. The honour of having a rose named after a person is something very rare and in the world of plants. It is the pinnacle of honour to many. No other plant in the world is coveted in the way roses are. They are without equal in the publics eye and bring more joy to my life than I can express.

It takes many years and thousands of seedlings to come up with a rose worth naming. It's not possible to explain in words, the passion and devotion that go into developing a new rose variety. Each and every new variety is a work of art and expresses my vision in roses. I enjoy naming my babies and try to find a name that will best suit the rose. I do offer roses for public naming on occasions and in my 20 years in business, have only "sold" a handful of roses naming priveledges this way. It's a way of helping me fund the breeding program and continue with my work and to expand the gardens of Select Roses.

I will be offering a total of five varieties for the 2008-09 year. There are several seedlings to pick from, but only three will be sold and introduced for the 2009 season. Typical world prices to have a rose named, range from $12,000 to $100,000 USD depending on the breeder. Although I've spent my lifetime with roses, I'm still considered " new" to this art, and sell my roses for a reasonable but lower price. The price does not mean one rose is of higher or lower quality but has more to do with the difficulty in breeding that type of rose or colour combination. All of my roses will be all registered in the same fashion as others with the International Cultivar Registration Authority - Roses . The American Rose Society, by appointment of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences, serves as the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Roses and follows the rules set forth by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants in the registration of new rose.

Once a person has chosen a rose and the business end is concluded, I apply for the registration using the name the client has requested. I also give the client their first 10 rose bushes during the proper planting season and also when the bushes are ready for their home. The rose is then propagated at my Select Roses nursery and sold to customers with the choosen name! It may also be sold under agreement with myself to other rose growers in the world.

In other words this is a pretty big deal!

Sincerely,

Brad Jalbert, Select Roses
Tel. (604) 530-5786