Re: Flower removal Norm's questions
- To: hosta-open@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: Flower removal Norm's questions
- From: C*@aol.com
- Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 18:26:25 EST
Narda,
I got the cart before the horse...here are Norm Lesch's questions that Jim H.
answered.:
Carol in CT z6/5
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Speaking of "seasonal affective disorder" (as Ken alluded to), as
I'm looking forward to spring (already?) while I watch the seeds
split open on H. 'Verna Jean' while at the same time the same
plant is about to bloom again, I have a question about shifting of
bloom time in order to get "unlikely" crosses. There are several
ways to do this but the one I have a question on is delaying the
blooms of early bloomers like the H. sieboldianas and the
H. 'Tokudamas' to coincide with the later blooming fragrant varieties.
I have saved pollen by refridgerating it but I have been disappointed
by the performance of refridgerated pollen. Cutting off a bloom
scape prior to blooming will encourage the plant to send up another
one. My questions are these:
1. At what point should you cut off the bloom scape? When it first
emerges? Just before the first flower opens?
2. How many times can you do this before the plant gives up?
3. How late can you expect to have blooms given this method?
4. What chemical (hormone, enzyme?) does blooming produce that
causes the plant not to send up another bloom scape? In other
words, what is missing by not blooming that causes it to send up
another bloom scape?
(I had a single division of H. 'Halcyon' that sent up a bloom scape
that flowered. It then sent up two more bloom scapes from that
single division. The nearby plants had bloom-envy.)
Thanks!
Norm Lesch
>Manchester, MD
>
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