Re: Hybridizing



Bill Meyer wrote:

> HI Chick,
>         I tried using plantagenia pollen a few times, but could't get
> anything set. Not much else bloomed at that time and I thought I was wasting
> the few flowers that I had. I've used 'Fragrant Bouquet' a lot and 'Fragrant
> Blue' seedlings for fragrance, and I have yet to get any flowers even as big
> as 'Fragrant Bouquet'. I asked Tony Avent about that and he said he made a
> lot of crosses with plantagenia pollen and didn't get anything with flowers
> near the size of plantagenia.  Bill Meyer

Dear Bill    I shorten the above  but three possible ideas for you when working
with H. plantaginea and other not easy to breed fragrant hosta.   Mary C.
recommends multiple  pollen applications over a day ( i.e. morning noon nite)
and working with pollen from the day before I believe.    Jim Wilkins has used a
method where he uses a bard-parker scalpel to nick the stamen 1/2 the way to the
ovary apply some stigma sticky fluid to the cut area and them apply your pollen
(this results in less seeds but some   because it gets to only 1/3 of the non
fertilized eggs in the ovary).   Finally a third method to work with these
plants that Ron Livingston works to perfection is fooling the plant by dabbing
at the very edge or border of the three sections of the stigma with the plants
own pollen then really load up the stigma with the pollen you really want to use
(any developing seedlings looking like the pod parent are obviously not what you
want but the rest should be).   Sorry for the late reply    later doug


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