CULT: Adaptability of Broken Color Irises
- Subject: CULT: Adaptability of Broken Color Irises
- From: J* a* C* W*
- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 21:21:09 -0700
From: "Jeff and Carolyn Walters" <jcwalters@bridgernet.com>
> From: Haggstroms <hagg@alaska.net>
> But my interest was piqued when a suggestion was made (I think), that
some of
> these types might suffer from adaptability, or perhaps, vigor.
> The thread was sort of left hanging that the broken color adaptability
may be
> the same as any other bearded, i.e., some do well in one area or another,
and
> some are better at wide-spread adaptability than others. This is the idea
I
> picked up.
> I know the Bearded ancestry is more complex than a single species iris,
but I
> thought there might be some valid extrapolation I can make about the
broken
> color genetics. I hope they don't prove more fussy because of this
mutation.
Kathy,
I grow a number of Ensminger and Kasperek broken color TBs and BBs and have
not found any of them to be notably weak growers under my conditions. On
the contrary, some of these cultivars, such as GNU BLUES, GNU'S FLASH, and
BRINDLED BEAUTY have been well above average in their vigor and
floriferousness. These observations lead me to conclude that there is
nothing inherent in the genes that produce the broken color effects that
would cause the plants that carry them to be weak growers and poor
performers.
However, it is true that most of the broken color bearded irises that have
been introduced to date have been the products of only two breeding
programs (and Ensminger cultivars were the foundation of Kasperek's
breeding lines) carried out in two specific locations (eastern Nebraska and
northern Utah). It would probably be unreasonable to expect that broken
color irises from this limited background would have the breadth of
adaptation to varying environmental conditions that can be found in other
colors of irises, such as white, blue, or yellow, that have been bred for
many generations in a wide variety of environments. I see no reason why
broken color irises could not achieve a similar wide range of adaptability
if a number of hybridizers in a variety of locations would undertake to
breed them.
Jeff Walters in northern Utah (USDA Zone 4/5, Sunset Zone 2)
jcwalters@bridgernet.com
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