Fw: Sky And Sun

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Sky and Sun has thick ram-rod type stalks and thick branches. The petals have this wonderful diamond dusting to them when they have the sun shining on them. They are strong wide petals that feel like cabbage, and never take on a tissue look to them. The flower color holds up well to our intense Arizona sun.  The pictures really do not do it justice. 

 

It could use REBLOOM, most definitely.  I would really enjoy that!  Unfortunately, I do not feel I would be able to retain that wonderful coloring.  HOWEVER, I just figured out what may make a good cross to it...AMETHYST WINTER.  AW is an amethyst-colored self rebloomer with yellow beards. Its branching and form is nice for me, and in my garden it DOES rebloom. I have some pollen in the Freezer.  If I get a good seedling and then cross it back to Sky And Sun or a seedling sib, then maybe I would get a similar color.  In theory, it sounds good at least. As far as the rebloom is concerned, Sky and Sun is out of Navajo Jewel hybridized by Weiler, who works with a lot of reblooming iris. So, the chances for rebloom in this cross seem favorable.     

 

Although I have been crossing many space-agers, I do not feel that adding horns, spoons, or flounces to this flower would enhance it favorably. I like being able to see those big bushy yellow-orange beards without having them obscured by an appendage that either blocks the color of the beard or adds a violet hue to the end of it. I like the beards on this one just the way they are. 

 

I think Wild Wings would also make a good cross with it, again loosing the sky blue color but enhancing the beard.  Unfortunately, it is not blooming for me yet. 

 

Since this IS a Spoon introduction, and since Mr. Spoon wrote up an article for the AIS Bulletin about selfing a variety to bring out any hidden traits, etc., perhaps I will attempt that method with his iris. 

 

To get the broken color you were talking about would take a lot of work.  Way too much for me and way too many seedlings for my yard.  Essentually, you would have to introduce to it some broken colored, plicata, or luminata genes, which I don't believe it already possesses.  Since the pattern of a self colored iris is dominant to broken colored patterns, all the half-broken colored children would come out self colored or bitoned.  Then, you would have to take two of the children and cross them together, or cross the children to more broken colored irises.  Out of that cross, you will have some broken colored irises emerge, but with what form?  Broken colored irises are gaining wider falls, but most I have seen bloom have been very narrow.  You couldn't cross it back to Sky and Sun to pick up its form because the children of that cross would be selfs or bitoned again. I would have to raise many many seedlings, I'd imagine. 

 

Thank you for your questions...they got me thinking...

 

Patrick

 

Catherine Button wrote:

 

>Patrick,

>How about an attempt to make a broken color blue/white, something like
>Broken Dreams only with this wonderful shade of blue and a nice white...
>That is awfully pretty... does it have any other good qualities?
>floweriferousness, rebloom, ..

Patrick Orr wrote:

> Here is a fabulous flower that I just love...SPOON '99 (Navajo Jewel X
> Clear Day)
> 
> I have been itching to cross this with something, but I cannot figure
> out what?
> 
> Patrick Orr
> Phoenix, AZ  Zone 9
> USA