Re: HYB: making fantasy iris

Patti,
I do have a couple suggestions that may be useful.

Keith Keppel's FOGBOUND has a near white beard that is pink in the throat.  It
can and does throw significantly more colorful beards, including both pale
blue and bright red colored ones, but its forte is in the pastel ranges.
Since it is a great-grandchild of HONKY TONK BLUES through its parent WISHFUL
THINKING, which also involves Keppel's long series of tangerine beards on
blues, it would seem to me to be almost ideal for what you seek.  Fogbound
does have a subtle but present dark-top character as well and is an
outstanding parent.

Keppel's CRYSTAL GAZER is a dark-top of medium violet over silvery lilac with
lighter center, beard peach frosted with violet, so it also should be useful.
It is from LOTUS LAND (laced) X FOGBOUND.

The mutually complimentary varieties TOM JOHNSON and PAUL BLACK from
Mid-America gardens have hot tangerine beards on quite dark flowers.  These
could be very interesting indeed mated to the above mentioned Keppel iris.
You also have in those combinations potentially outstanding form, substance,
vigor, health, and budcounts and the combinations might give you your goal in
a single generation.  If not, a generation or two more and you should have
plenty of good ones from which to select.

Others on the Iris-talk list may have other very good suggestions.  I think
there are many varieties out there on the market from which to work.  There
may be some in Sutton family breeding which you might find productive to
consider.

Neil Mogensen   z 7 western NC

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