Yes, quite reasonable. But there are two other possibilities that
come to mind. Because I've used enhanced germination procedures, with
seedlings moved from lights to seedling beds only after they are mature enough
to make it, I have not had to be concerned about various varmints moving
seeds.
I've had some similar surprises in the seedling patch, especially with TB
recessives. Not exactly your flower, but by all appearance an OGB
type. Some, like JOINT VENTURE, have proved to be fertile enough to
produce some valuable offspring.
I would not be surprised, however, to find a
flower like this from a cross of an OGB+ arilbred onto a TB.
It sounds like you have salvaged an unusually strong plant from your
dumping ground. It would be interesting to find out if it is even
limitedly fertile and whether it can pass on that strength to its
offspring.
Sharon McAllister
In a message dated 4/1/2009 12:45:12 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
donald@eastland.net writes:
> Was this a "dumping ground" for culled seedlings or for soil that
contained
> unsprouted seeds?
Pots of unsprouted seeds - and a
lot of them that year. I'm in the habit of keeping pots through two seasons
(mostly) and then discarding them. Too much work for too little return beyond
that time frame but it does result in strays.
>Were these OGB- type
seedlings traditional
> first-generation quarterbreds or were they from
wide crosses?
They should have all been 1st gen cross of TBxAB types.
Other types were dumped in a different place. Pots that sit around for 24-30
months or more are exposed to squirrels, mice, toad frogs and birds digging in
them from time to time, not to mention occasionally being tipped over with the
spill scraped up and put back in the pots. Especially tricky if more than one
pot is tipped at the same time. Quite often I find seeds on the surface and
push them back under the soil. While in the pots, different types aren't
segregated so my speculation is that a varmint moved a seed from one pot to
another and this is the result. A reasonable scenario based on its
appearance?
Donald Eaves
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
