With a title like this you would think I am talking about the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. However, this article will deal with roses that tend to create a lot of sports.

Sports are genetic “oops” that are created when something goes wrong in a plant and produces something not like the original plant. A perfect example is when a rose, such as Double Delight, sports a new cane that is a climbing rose. The blooms are typical of the bush, just a climbing form. Most of the most common roses have sported a climbing version at one time or another, such as Cl. Double Delight, Cl. Mister Lincoln, Cl. Queen Elizabeth, Cl. Playgirl, Cl. Iceberg, etc. Another sport that is commonly seen is color sports. These can have identical blooms but a different color. Some varieties have been known to sport several different colored sports. It is those roses that are the subject of this article.

A sport is a genetic mutation. There are several types of sports, which are also known as chimeras. The most common is the periclinal chimera. The mutated cell is near the beginning and the growth of cells behind it forms a new set of cells. The sport is usually stable and can be propagated. A common sport found in roses is an albino cane. This is a freak of nature and is not stable. Often you cut the cane off and it will not come back white. Besides, who wants a white rose bush as it wouldn’t be able to produce enough chlorophyll to survive.

Many rose sports are stable, others not, often reverting back to the parent. The most famous of the sports and reversion is seen in Apothecary’s Rose, the red gallica, that sports to the striped gallica Rosa Mundi, then often it reverts back. It is not unusual to see both roses on the same plant. Another is Crystalline, which is a recent hybrid tea that has several sports, such as Natasha Monet and Pink Crystal. The latter is not very stable and the whole plant will often revert back to Crystalline.

It has been said that most sports are not as good or healthy as the parent. Generally this is true. The parent rose is usually the better rose, thus many sports have disappeared over time. There are few sports that are better than the parent, but they are pretty rare. Personally, Natasha Monet is a much better rose for me than its parent, Crystalline.

Some roses sport better than others. One of the current Sport Kings is Playgirl. This rose has sported to several different sports, such as Cl. Playgirl, Puanani, Playfair, Charlotte Anne, Miss Ada, and Sweet Serenity. I am sure Playgirl has a lot more sports left in her.

The all time hybrid tea Sport King is Ophelia (1912). Ophelia has sported to no fewer than 40 different roses, including the very popular Madame Butterfly (1918) and Rapture (1926). The next hybrid tea would be Columbia (1917) with 27 sports, including the popular Briarcliff (1925) which sported to the popular Better Times (1934). Other top hybrid tea Sport Kings are Talisman (1929) and Mme Edouard Herriot (1913) with 21 each, Killarney (1898) and Premier (1918) with 15 each, Radiance (1908) and Mme Caroline Testout (1890) with 14 each, and La France (1867) with 12.

In the old garden rose section, few match the sporting ability of the hybrid teas. The tea rose Catherine Mermet (1869) has 8 sports, Maman Cochet (1891), Countess of Oxford (1869), and Perle des Jardins have 7 each, then followed by Captain Christy (1873) and Baronne Prevost (1842) with 6 and 5 respectively.

The Sport Kings for the ramblers include Tausendschon (1906) with 19 sports and Dorothy Perkins with 6.

The real Sport Kings are found among the polyanthas. The all time Sport King is Orleans Rose (1909) with 47 sports, including the popular Miss Edith Cavell (1917) and Coral Cluster (1920). Phyllis (1908) has sported 19 times, Dick Koster (1929) 12 times, Joseph Guy (1921) 9 times, and Mme Norbert Levavasseur (1903) and Eblouissant 8 times each.

Many sports will beget more sports. The Koster line of polyanthas are usually sports of sports of sports. From Greta Kluis sported Anneke Koster (1927) which sported Dick Koster (1929) which sported Margo Koster (1931) which sported Greet Koster (1933), Margo’s Sister (1954) and Margo’s Baby (1987). Also from Dick Koster sported Mothersday (1949) which sported Orange Morsdag (1956).

It is always exciting to go out to the garden and see a different bloom on your rose bush. Did you discover a sport? Is it marketable? Is it stable? I thought I found a climbing sport of Kristin, but it wouldn’t propagate true. You can register a sport of a rose, but cannot get a plant patent. Since you didn’t create the sport and it was a freak of nature, you are not allowed to get a patent. There was some talk at one time whether a plant had a plant patent and if it sported, it wasn’t the property of the patent holder. For example, J&P has the patent for Signature. A pure white sport is found by a rosarian not employed by J&P. Who owns the rose and potential royalties if it is sold? I have heard two different arguments, but I believe that once a plant is sold, any sports are the property of the finder. I may be wrong on this, but it sounds like another idea for an article.

This article is an American Rose Society Award of Merit winner. Originally published in the February 2003 issue of “Rose Ecstasy,” bulletin of the Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society, Kitty Belendez, Editor.

© 2004 Steve Jones, All Rights Reserved.