Re: HYB:Hybridizers

Funny you should mention this Betty.... I was just thinking something the other day that kinda goes along with this thought.
   
  I am not the kind of person that likes to do things that don't have instant gratification.  If I cannot see some kind of result... I will lose interest alltogether.  My mind wanders, and it wandered to the anticipation of my second seedling to bloom... which I hope will bloom this year. 
   
  My first year of crosses I got no germinants.  My second year of crosses I got maybe a dozen germinants, of which only three survived to be lined out and only two survived to bloom, the first of which bloomed out.  Now I'm busy lining out close to two hundred seedlings from close to eighty crosses...
   
  And I'm so busy I was wondering to myself how it came to pass after such dismal results the first two years... I didn't just lose interest?
   
  Then I got to thinking... there's instant gratification in seeing the pollen settle onto a nice receptive stigmatic lip.  There's satisfaction in looking over the bed after a day of crossing and seeing all the flags waving in the breeze that may become pods.  After bloom has passed there's so much satisfaction in going through the cross notes and seeing which crosses took.  Cracking open the pods at harvest time and counting potential babies, oh what fun!   When I started to find germinants in my burritos I was happy, but when the number of germinants went past a dozen I was thrilled.  When my window shelf filled up with individual pots, and I had to add another... and another....and watching the little leaves grow... and the couple that have already increased!
   
  If my taped together seedling blooms this year I can expect a drought of at least one year before these seedlings I lined out this year will bloom....
   
  But there are so many little milestones in the two years between cross and bloom... how could you get bored?
   
  But maybe that's just me....
   
  Christian
  ky

Autmirislvr@aol.com wrote:
  One of the topics for conversation, during this past winter, has been the 
decreasing number of hybridizers. Creating new irises is one of the easiest 
and most fun things I've ever done. Would like to thank the friend that 
challenged me to make that first cross in the spring of 1986! 

But, we need NEW hybridizers. So, if you'd like to make a cross and don't 
know how . . . ask someone. Most of us are willing to help. Don't feel 
intimidated. I've been working on it for over 20 years and I'm far from being an 
expert! 

You're not comfortable asking on the list? Then e-mail some of us privately 
or off list. I may not talk to my children for the next month, but I'll 
answer any question about hybridizing rebloomers! 

In addition, the archives here at iris talk has a huge amount of information 
on hybridizing, and the Internet has several helpful sites. 

If you're already a hybridizer of oncers? Think about making at least ONE 
reblooming cross this year. Please! For my iris friends that read this list 
and never post, this means you too! 




Teach a neighborhood child or family child how to make crosses this spring! 
We need them! Even if they don't make a cross for 20 years, they'll have 
the knowledge. 

Thanks for your time! 

Isn't spring great? 


________________________________________________________
If you don't cross them, you can't plant them! 
Betty W. in South-central KY Zone 6 ---
Bridge In Time Iris Garden@website:
_www.thegardensite.com/irises/bridgeintime/_ 
(http://www.thegardensite.com/irises/bridgeintime/) 
_Reblooming Iris - Home Page_ (http://www.rebloomingiris.com/) 
_iris-photos archives_ (http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/) 
_iris-talk archives_ (http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/) 
_AIS: American Iris Society website_ (http://www.irises.org/) 

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