5 Minutes with .......

 

 

Dave Kenny

 

Dave Kenny is an ARBA Management Committee member

living in Carlow, Eire and  is the ARBA Annual Editor.  

Q.      How did you become interested in breeding roses? 

“I began growing roses in my early twenties and soon discovered that two of the greatest rose breeding companies in the world Dicksons and McGredy were Irish.  This sparked my curiosity and I began to find out as much as possible about breeding roses.  I must say that both Pat Dickson andSam McGredy have been very helpful in giving me information about how to breed roses.”  

Q.      Do you have an objective when choosing parent roses for breeding?

“My main objective is to breed a good yellow of any type of unfading colour and high disease resistance. I am interested in all colours and types but they must be highly resistant to disease.  We must make disease resistance the top of our breeding agenda”.  

Q.      Apart from roses you have bred yourself, what is you favourite rose and why?

“My favourite rose at the moment is ‘Elina’ (DICjana).  It has just about everything except a strong fragrance.  It grows with great vigour, is very healthy, flowers over a long period and the colour is just so beautiful“. 

Q.    What do you consider to be the most successful rose you have bred and why?

“My most successful rose has to be ‘Riverdance’ (KENfine).  Why?  Well it has above average health, produces huge numbers of flowers, has great vigour and the habit is quite neat and tidy without the tall second growth many patios get.  It has won awards at a number of trial grounds and is in commerce in Europe”.  

Q.     If you could offer just one tip for the beginner what would it be?

“Have a goal and stick to it.  Your goals will change with time but follow your dreams as far as possible.  In terms of varieties try ‘Sexy Rexy’, ‘Red Finesse’, ‘Red Hot’ and ‘Gelber Engel’ (KORgosumu), ‘Bonica’ and ‘Golden Future’ to get started and to learn how to make crosses, collect seed and see how roses germinate”.  

Q.      What are you working on at the moment?

“All kinds of weird and wonderful things (I think).  I am trying to breed H.T.s, unsuccessfully so far, but I’m persisting.  I am trying ‘Paddy Stephens’, ‘Keep Smiling’ and ‘Rotary Sunrise’ among others.  I also am following a very healthy line from ‘Golden Future’, ‘Baby Love’ to try and develop a strain of very healthy, compact shrubs/floribundas.  Maybe by widening the crosses I might get H.T.s”.