I'm sorry, Griff. The upper left is Childsong, the upper right is Zerzura. That 'X' in between was intended to show that was the cross that produced Feeling Sorta Blue which was crossed to Energizer in the lower right. The whole thing was to show how the blue beard was tracking, so the grandparents and parents of the seedling in the middle are shown. Since Zerzura and Energizer have yellow beards, I found the blue beard being retained was interesting and I believe blue beards are much more common among the median class where Childsong comes in. Is that not correct? Genetic Artist, a parent of Childsong is an AB with a lavender beard. The beards are blue on those in the photo. I think there may be some regelia aril genes involved that are allowing the strong _expression_ of the blue beards, but I wasn't expecting it to show up with the crosses involved. So, given a bit of opportunity, I'll chase it in a haphazard way but it won't really be a focus that I concentrate on going for.

Donald

--- In i*@yahoogroups.com, "J. Griffin Crump" <jgcrump@...> wrote:
>
> So, what are the very interesting ones at top left and top right, Donald? -- Griff
>
> From: Donald Eaves
> Sent: Friday, December 24, 2010 5:13 PM
> To: i*@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [iris-photos] AB: chasing blue in ABs
>
>
> 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
> mailto:donald%40eastland.net
> Texas Zone 7b, USA
>