HYB - TB: Reg. 7 Irisarian Reprints #1

The articles from the "Irisarian"  are long so they should come in
increments of one or two........  I will  tag them as Reg 7 Reprints and
see how long it takes..........  If one is not interested..........  hit
the "delete" key.

A series of articles reprinted from the Region 7 IRISARIAN with myself as
Editor in 1990-91.  [Gary Sides--Jan. 1998:  Posted to Iris-L]

BEGINNER'S LUCK
Al Roderick     Farmington, Missouri

Excitement starts at sunrise when you're a pollen dauber.  From the time
you see the bloom stalks swell in the foliage until the last bloom folds,
its a thrill.  Each morning, I can hardly wait to get in the seedling patch
to see what surprises Mother Nature has in store for me.
	   
 My purpose in hybridizing is to enjoy the fun and excitement of creating
something new and to improve the species.  I do not go about it
scientifically, only the mental and visual expectations from selected
parents.  I keep exact breeding records and have developed breeding lines
in blue, yellow and pink.  Although plicatas have always been my favorites,
I have never made any plicata crosses.  Perhaps I will, now that I have the
time and space to expand my hybridizing program.
	    
I am presently only working with tall bearded and border bearded.  In past
years, I averaged growing about 250 to 500 seedlings because of the limited
time to make the crosses and limited space to grow them.  It is not
necessary to grow thousands of seedlings to get results from your efforts. 
It only takes one cross to produce that "Dykes" winner.  My first crosses
were made in 1970 and from those, I introduced RUFFLED BALLET, MOODY BLUE
and MELLOW YELLOW in 1975 with a total of 21 introductions to date.  (Ed.
note--RUFFLED BALLET won the "Dykes" in 1983.)
	    
My advice to anyone who is considering hybridizing is to first decide on a
goal.  What do you want to accomplish or work toward?  You can then direct
your efforts in that direction.  That will also determine to a large degree
which varieties you cross and which seedlings you select to keep and work
with.  For a small hybridizer, it's impossible to work with everything. 
You may want to work with blacks, pinks with blue beards, reds, plicatas,
improve o existing colors, work with other types such as medians, standard
dwarfs, etc.  Regardless which area you work with, there will be many
surprises along the way.  Even after you set your goal, it may be illusive
or you may get sidetracked after you see which direction your hybridizing
takes you.  

How you select parentage will be the most important decisions of your
hybridizing career.  It will determine your success or failure and whether
you continue or loose interest.  Use the very newest varieties available to
start.  Tremendous advancements have been made in the last 10 years and if
you start with varieties that are 20 years old, your seedlings will be 20
years behind already.  Keep in mind that before a variety is introduced, it
is already five years old and has already produced seedlings for its
hybridizer.  However, there are exceptions.  Some of the older varieties,
used with the right partners, produce excellent seedlings of modern type. 
I still use RUFFLED BALLET and SHEER POETRY as they both pass on those wide
hafts and ruffles which are so popular today.
	   
 So how do you decide on parents?  Keep in mind the standard of today's
introductions.  Visit other hybridizers gardens and seedlings to see what
is already being produced.  Compare your seedlings.  You may go home and
start over.  Since wide ruffled falls are popular, I do not use varieties
that are narrow at the haft and are tailored.  I try to select parents that
have good branching and bud count, although that may not always show up in
an excellent seedling.  Select varieties that have good substance that will
hold up in adverse weather conditions and will not fade in hot sun.  Use
varieties that are hardy and grow good in your area and do not have to be
pampered to get good results.  These traits are easily passed on to
seedlings both good and bad.  For an example, many of the California
hybridized varieties do not grow well here in the midwest and are not
reliably hardy.  Our winters are harsh with fluctuating temperatures and no
snow cover.  Unless you cross them with hardy varieties, your seedlings may
lack the vigor to pull them thru the winter without protection.  I do not
cuddle seedlings but let nature eliminate the weak ones for me.  Do not
select two parents with the same fault, such as floppy standards, poor
branching, narrow falls or poor substance, etc.  That will usually compound
the fault and will usually be difficult to overcome.  If you do select a
parent with an obvious fault, cross it with a variety that is strong in
that particular area and hope the good characteristic will be strong enough
to express itself in the seedlings.
	    
Do not expect to reach your goal in the first generation of seedlings,
although if you use the right parents, you may get excellent results with
your first crosses.  You may need to cross seedlings 
together or cross them back to the parents in order to advance your goal. 
The genetic pool of todays iris is so complex, I would venture to say that
it would be almost impossible to predict the outcome of a particular cross.
    

I would not throw away the best seedlings from a particular cross even
though they were not introduction material.  If they are from two good
parents, they contain the genetic background of both parents and have the
potential to throw the best characteristics of either parent if they are
crossed with each other.  Don't be afraid to repeat a cross.  A cross can
be made a hundred times and all the seedlings will be genetically different
even if they resemble each other.	    

I like to make my crosses from 10 am to noon before the pollen dries.  I
use only freshly open blooms and cross both ways, all the flowers that are
open.  I mark the cross with a string tag with the pollen parent only.  If
the cross is successful, I record the pod parent when I pick the pod.  I
break off the standards and falls of the pollinated bloom when it starts to
fold to help prevent rot if the pod develops.  I also strip away all
foliage from the stalk so surplus water will not catch in the leaves and
rot the stalk.  I also stake the stalk to prevent wind damage.  Established
plants usually set seed better than first year plants.  First year plants
will usually not grow off as vigorously if seed pods are set on them.
	    
Sometimes even if you do everything right, you are still doomed for
failure.  Several years ago, I had planned to make a particular cross for
some time but something always prevented me from getting a good pod.  The
cross didn't take, season too wet, pod would rot on the stalk, always
something.  Finally one season I did manage to get a nice big pod to form
and grow on the very top of the stalk.  Mid-June came, the baseball season
started and a neighbor teenager who lived up the street came down to play
catch with our son Greg.  After a while, his mother called him home.  The
shortest route was through the iris garden.  When Doug passed the iris
stalk with that big pod perched on top of it, he automatically reached
down, with no hesitation, picked it off and sent it flying through the air,
never realizing what he had done.  I didn't have the heart to tell him and
decided to give up on that particular cross.  The pod was never found. 
Such is the life of a hybridizer!

Remove the pods when they start to split, usually in late July or early
August.  The seeds are shelled out of the pod and let dry in an open
container for about a week and then stored in envelopes at room temperature
until late October when they are planted outside in open ground about an
inch deep.  Bricks or boards are placed over the rows and left on until
germination starts in early spring, usually about mid-March.  When the
seedlings are about six inches tall, they are transplanted in the garden in
rows.  I try to get them transplanted by June 1st before the spring rains
stop.  It's important to keep them growing vigorously thru the summer
because usually all those that show increase by fall will bloom the
following spring which will usually be about 50 to 60%.  After two years,
all seedlings are discarded except those selected, even those that did not
bloom because usually they are not vigorous enough to keep.	    

In seedling selection, I look for improvements over the parents,
uniqueness, something different, color, progress towards my goal, even
slight.  I am very selective in the seedling patch.  Those that are
selected are lined out and grown for at least two more seasons before final
selection.  Seedlings change after the first year, sometimes dramatically. 
Some improve, others fall apart.  Some you will wonder why you saved them. 
The year I selected STAR WARS and ROYAL VIKING from a cross of (RUFFLED
BALLET X NAVY STRUT), I couldn't make a decision on at least a dozen
seedlings out of the cross.  They were all lined out, but the following
year it was apparent which ones were the best.
	   
Many of the newer varieties introduced in the 80's are of such good
quality, that by merely crossing two named varieties together, one could
easily come up with some excellent seedlings in the first generation. 
However, by developing your own breeding lines, it gives you the advantage
of having access to a genetic pool that no one else has and increases the
potential of creating something unique and different.
	   
I encourage everyone to make just one cross and experience the joy and
excitement of creation.
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