I appreciate the information, Donald. I certainly will never reselect a
seedling that doesn’t make a good show in the garden and for more than a
week at a time. That is very
important to me.
Francelle Edwards Glendale, AZ Zone 9
-----Original Message-----
From: iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:iris-photos@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of donald
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 6:19
PM
To: iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iris-photos] Re: HYB:
TB: New seedling
Francelle,
That looks great! I hope it does well.
You were musing on iris-talk (not a member - just
read the archives)
about branching, bud count and the weather in
connection with
evaluating seedlings. Weather certainly has
an effect. Last year,
e.g., ALPENVIEW bloomed with three stalks having 3
buds each. No
branching. I don't know what its supposed to
have, but I'm sure
what I saw is not what it is capable of
doing. My own opinion is
that if you see good branching and bud count on a
plant, whether a
seedling or a more mature plant, then that plant
contains the
genetic blueprint to give those
characteristics. The conditions
required to have that plant fulfill its potential
would be the
guesswork. Under my harsh conditions, bud
counts exceeding seven
buds are a waste of time. They are miserable
if they don't simply
dry up on the stalk. Branching is a plus,
but it is variable from
season to season. Here the ability of a
clump to produce stalks has
more value than high bud counts. Some clumps
produce those stalks,
some are stingy. But a plant with four
stalks having five buds
compared a similar clump only have two with eleven
buds of which
only seven are going to look decent....well, you
can do the math. I
think a lot of plants with considerable merit are
going to be
overlooked and not introduced, especially from
areas of extreme
weather patterns, if the hybridizers get too tied
to bud counts and
branching. Neither of those in themselves
guarantee a good garden
subject.
My opinion.
Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA
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