The parentage on this Christopher Columbus (the striper with foliage that looks like it has miniature in it) seems highly confused with the parentage of the Christopher Columbus from Meilland. First, the parents of this one look like they belong to the Meilland version. They are of the same color, class mix and breeder origin. I believe that some sort of clerical had been originally made that confused the two, which has further catapulted both into having incorrect information about them. I just cannot even fathom that the listed parents of the striped version are really Coppelia 76, Ambassador and Romantica 76, which are an apricot/orange floribunda, an apricot/orange hybrid tea and a coral orange hybrid tea (respectively) all from Meilland and not Poulsen.

The patent of the striped version (POUlbico) states this:

"The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of shrub rose plant which originated from a controlled crossing between an unnamed seedling (non-patented) and unnamed seedling (non-patented). The two parents were crossed and the resulting seeds were planted in a controlled environment.

The new variety is named `POULbico`.

The new rose may be distinguished from its seed parent, an unnamed seedling, by the following combination of characteristics:

1. The seed parent is a floribunda rose with medium sized double flowers, while `POULbico` is a shrub rose with single flowers.

2. The seed parent has deep pink, soft pink and white striped flowers. The pink colors are stronger than those of `POULbico`. Additionally, `POULbico` displays lavender stripes, where those of the seed parent are white.

The new variety may be distinguished from its pollen parent, an unnamed seedling, created by the same inventors, by the following combination of characteristics:

1. The pollen parent is a floribunda with pink flowers, while `POULbico` is a shrub rose with striped flowers."

So, from this, we know it is seedling x seedling. This makes sense because Poulsen often uses their own proprietary seedlings as their sources in parentages. Also from this, we know that Ambassador, Coppelia 76 and Romantica 76 are not its true parents.

Available from - Orion Farm in MN
orionfarm.com

In my garden, this rose has little or no fragrance. After a moderately nice spring flush, it
sends out 5-foot+ long floppy canes that only bloom sporadically on the tips. This is my second year growing it; if it doesn't improve in one more year, it has to go. Too bad, it's extremely disease resistant. Maybe it would perform better trained as a small climber.