CAT: TB: Keppel

There was a mention of the Keppel catalog arriving somewhere--and I can't seem
to find the post, but I started watching the mail when I read it.  The 2003
has arrived here now, too, and I am delighted to have some fresh IRIS reading
material since "the weather outside is frightful...."

I am just smitten with Keppel's Lotus Land X Fogbound intros.  Last year's
CRYSTAL GAZER is upstaged by the new VENETIAN GLASS.  I can hardly wait to see
these in person.  FOGBOUND is a very good performer here, and also can bloom
from the increase when the primary gets frozen--and still leave plenty for the
next year.  That's a quality I very highly value in light of our experience
the past couple of springs..

The other one that caught my eye in the catalog was from Vienna Waltz and
Fogbound.  PARIS FASHION has class and form I especially like.  If it looks as
good in person as it does in the catalog photo, it is a sure winner.

The seeds from last year's crosses here and those made for me in Oregon
haven't shown a peep yet, thanks to some very cold weather lately.  As always,
I have high hopes.  Only a few of those set out last spring and summer
(including some FOGBOUND and VIENNA WALTZ crosses with my own things) have
grown enough to bloom thanks to the drought and high cost of city water, but
there should be enough bloom to be interesting.  The ones involving Fogbound
suffered less than most--and were in the better locations. The more I see of
the bloodlines, the better I like them.

Linda Mann and Keppel in this '03 catalog have both mentioned going back to
early varieties for characters including vigor that may have gotten left
behind.  I'm tempted to use some BLUE RHYTHM pollen on some modern sorts.
There's a patch of it blooming year after year by one of the rental units
here, unsprayed, unweeded, no particular sanitation, and it just keeps on
going.  That's a quality--to say nothing of its trojana-type branching--I'd
like to include in modern sorts.  I wonder how many generations it would take
both to capture those qualities AND regain modern flower type?

Neil Mogensen  z 6b/7a near Asheville, NC

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