Betty,

>Are you doing any breeding for blue ABs? I saw one while in Alabama
>several years ago and really >liked it.
>I've not seen another blue one! Are they rare? Or maybe recessive?

Blue doesn't seem to be really common, but it's there. You are giving me
way too much credit with the question, though. I'm a pollen dauber, not a
hybridizer and my principle goal has been to obtain plants using a parent
with a set of unbalanced set of chomosomes. That's been slow and doesn't
involve any specific look. That said, I do dauble around when I see an
opportunity - sort of following the iris' lead, though they are side trips
simply following what has shown up. This photo is an example of chasing a
blue beard - and I think those are really not common at all in ABs. So the
initial cross of Childsong X Zerzura gave the one in the lower left which
Elm registered as Feeling Sorta Blue. On crossing FSB to Energizer I got
the seedling in the center with a blue beard. That blue beard must have
come down from Childsong. Both FSB and the seedling run toward blue rather
than red and both got a blue beard. I've attempted to match some blues
while I'm daubling around. Even a pollen dauber makes choices. There are a
couple of more seedlings from the Feeling Sorta Blue X Energizer that I hope
to see bloom this year. If they have the blue beard, then FSB or a sibling
cross would be likely choices if the opportunity arose. If there are other
ABs with strongly blue beards, I don't grow them. There are a couple that
hint at violet beards which might work well. It was really interesting to
me that the diminutive size and the blue beard were the primary
contributions I got from Childsong. I wasn't expecting the color, to say
the least.

A whole, wonderful inch of rain today! Merry Christmas to me!

Donald Eaves
d*@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7b, USA