Re: HYB:winter planning:blueprint of the iris mind

Colleen, one advantage to hybridizing in iris hell - not all that much data to look at/think about, so it doesn't really take all that much time! :-( & now that I'm retired, I do have a lot more time to play.
Speaking of climate, brr! Shock to go from two days of record highs to low 20sF.
Betty, I didn't mean 'failed' attempted crosses - I agree, that's mostly a climate/weather problem. I meant a good cross that produced a lot of normal looking seeds but either didn't germinate well or had few surviving seedlings. Few surviving seedlings can be due to so many things, I like to look at each case individually, rather than just abandon that type of cross. The weather used to be more of a factor - not as much now that I burrito etc.
<<2) update notes on germination and survival rates for various types of crosses & look for possible patterns of successes & failure. As we all keep saying, anything can happen in a particular cross, & while I will continue to experiment with low survival crosses, I don't want them <all> to be that way!>>
Although I do keep germination records on the main cross file, I don't include them in the winter plans. In my experience it seems that the success or failure of crosses depend more on weather than anything else. In 2005 neither Summer Radiance OR Pure as Gold set even one seed, but in 2006 they collectively produced a large number of seed. Other bad pollen producers (Immortality) become known by their reputation. I do keep records of field crosses and can check back to see if an iris has established a habit of non production. 


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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>
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