Several thoughts/questions about aphylla & rebloom

Chuck, do you know if the aphylla photoperiod response is dominant or 
recessive?  Do you know if it is responding to shortening days, 
triggered in summer, or actual daylength?  If the latter, any idea what 
daylength?

I've been looking at seedling differences in the range of green to brown 
foliage this time of year, before it gets cold enough to kill foliage to 
the ground (if it ever does this winter), wondering what happens with an 
aphylla photoperiod winter dormancy cross with something that tries to 
grow all winter.

Before I started breeding my own irises, I noticed that the cultivars 
that I bought that did the best here usually dropped foliage during 
drought and during winter.  Pallida tends to also drop foliage in really 
cold winters here, but I've not noticed it in summer.   Discussion on 
iris talk way back when concluded that it could be influence of one or 
more of several of the diploid ancestors - variegata, pallida, aphylla.

Most of my keeper seedlings (which made it fine through last winters dip 
to zero F with no snow cover) try to put on more green whenever it's 
somewhat warm and do not drop foliage during drought. (There's a lot of 
seedling selection pressure for drought tolerance/deep root systems.)

I've always suspected there is some aphylla influence in the GPBrown 
rebloomers because of the abundant branching, but maybe aphylla isn't 
the only source of that type of branching?

Linda Mann
Merry Christmas Eve everybody

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