HYB: carried away makign crosses

I don't have acres of irises - maybe about 1500 "clumps" all together,
seedlings included.  I got carried away last year making crosses because
I had a lot of bloom for a change & wanted to experiment to see what I
needed to do differently to get better germination rates and speed up
turnaround time to bloom.

Plus, my hybridizing goals are to select for abuse tolerant babies that
will thrive in spite of me and my growing conditions.  I assume (hope?)
that of the 1400 seeds from last year, I only wind up with about 100
seedlings that are blooming size by next spring.  Right now, there are
around 300, more coming up this week, and not many showing signs of
dying.

this could become a problem....

However, there is always the 5 acre hayfield across the creek... clay
soil, better exposure, better air drainage, uncontaminated with iris
diseases....

Of the 50 or more crosses I made last year, many involved older super
tough cultivars crossed with newer ones, trying to get some breeding
stock.  I expect that most, if not all, of these will become compost.
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

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