Re: HYB: making a fantasy iris

Linda, if I were going after what you created in the "fantasy iris" photo, I
would try several different things, and then go with the best of the
offspring.  You're not likely to realize that iris in one step.

How is this as a starter suggestiom?  Wearing Rubies with Last Laugh and/or
Prince George.  Last Laugh is likely to be a far better starting point judging
from its looks and its behavior here, but you are looking for a smaller white
flash.  I would be prepared for that feature to vary in size in your seedlings
over a few generations all the way from "Queen's Circle" to none at all
considering it presumably is a dosage effect of the "I-sub-s" with perhaps
some modifiers thrown in.

Wearing Rubies is going to give you some saturation in both fall color and in
the depth of "pink" with a dash of anthocyanin thrown in in many seedlings.
You might also give Louisa's Song a try as well.  In both cases you have
rather clean hafts to begin with.  Marked hafts tend to be *very* persistant
in seedlings and usually get more rather than less as the generations proceed.
Of course, they also get more interesting, until they become the drawing power
of the seedling--but that is not what you are after.

If you want as near black as possible, go after the Romantic Evening kids.
There's a fair amount of *aphylla* ancestry buried in Romantic Evening's
pedigree.  I think, with the help of Mike Lowe I counted quite a few spots in
the pedigree where some aphylla influence enters in.  Some of RE's seedlings
are just plain BLACK in the falls.  Keppel's Wild Wings is one example and is
a full tttt--that will give you the pink color!  The white of Last Laugh may
or may not dilute the pink, but the I-sub-s (plus modifiers?) in it will give
you some strong bicolors in the offspring.  You also will have good branching
and bud counts at least possible.  From what I hear, Last Laugh is proving to
be a darned good parent, as is Louisa's Song, and for that matter, so is
Wearing Rubies.

If you try any of this, you are in for a hayride-full of fun.  How's your
compost pile doing?

Neil Mogensen  z 7 western NC

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