HYB - TB: Reg. 7 Irisarian Reprints #17
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: HYB - TB: Reg. 7 Irisarian Reprints #17
- From: "* D* S* <g*@ccast.com>
- Date: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 19:13:28 -0700 (MST)
> 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]
>
IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!
LINDA MILLER Ossian, IN
Trial and mostly error is what it has been coming up with an iris worth
introducing. It took 13 years from my first crosses before I introduced my
first TB. My husband, Roger, taught me the mechanics which was simply
putting pollen on each stylearm lip. I thought if a little pollen was
good, a lot was better; I did get almost twice the amount of seeds as
Roger had been getting, so I have never been stingy with pollen. Roger
also explained to me that pollen dabbing was best in the morning, which has
proved to be true except if we have a cool cloudy day then anytime is okay.
If the day turns warm and sunny, any crossing I do after noon is almost
useless. [Ed.--Almost all of mine, except on weekends and afternoons I
take off) are done after 3 pm. because I have a full-time job! You just
have to make more to compensate! :) ]
A key point to coming up with a good seedlings is good parents. You can't
start with two poorly formed irises and come up with a good formed iris.
Two of the most beautiful irises can yield a patch of dogs. So make sure
at least one parent has excellent form. For the other, look for a variety
that needs improving. What constitutes needing improvement? A variety
that has one or more of the following characteristics: undersized or
tailored blossoms,
bad branching, poor bud count or lack of vigor. You probably won't get
what you want the first time, so take the best of what you were hoping for
and make another cross with a "good" parent, that is, one that has the
characteristics your seedling is lacking. I have never known too many
varieties that I could say, "Use this one for great form, etc." Although,
I have an orange seedling that is producing outstanding oranges. The
blossoms are not large, but the plant has good foliage, great height, bud
count and branching. A good parent in my way of thinking is a variety that
has good qualities I want passed on.
Color draws me to the plant first. Now anyone can cross two good formed
blues with other great qualities and come up with another good formed blue
with good qualities, but what have you accomplished? So have a goal in
mind when you look at a flower. If it is a new and unusual color or
combination of colors, but the blossoms are undersized, think what variety
you have that might enlarge the flowers but wouldn't change the color too
much. Or, think of a different color you could possibly come up with by
crossing two flowers. Have a flower in mind you want to develop, say a
medium blue with a pink beard. The closest variety I can think of is
SUGARTIME (it is blue violet with a pink cast around the beard), now I want
to select an iris with the pinkest beard. If I find two varieties that
have similar beards I choose the one with the best form, size, bud count,
branching and vigor. If possible, I make more than one cross and if
possible, both ways. If I'm lucky enough to get one take (if you get more
than 50% of takes I think you are doing something right), let's hope there
will be several seeds that make it to maturity. Insects and weather can
sometimes damage a pod, or forgetting the pod until the seeds have spilled
onto the ground can cost you another year of waiting.
I now have harvested seeds planted (that is another story in itself) and
then transplanted to field conditions about one year after the cross was
first made. The following year, if weather has been kind, many seedlings
will bloom, and the following year (that is three years after the cross was
made) most of the other seedlings that have survived two winters will
bloom. Now I look for the seedling that best fits the picture I had in
mind. If none of them are quite what I wanted, I would choose the closest
one and cross it on a variety that has the qualities that my seedling
lacks. And thus we start the process over again and possibly again. When
you see how possibly long it can take for a new or improved variety to be
developed, you can then see why it is better to start with the newest
improved varieties. By first cross, some other person using newer
varieties may already be years ahead of you. Also by raising and knowing
the newer varieties you will have something to compare that seedling to
that you think might be different. It is amazing how two varieties will be
introduced the same year from different breeding and different parts of the
country and look almost identical. Now if you just want to have fun and
experiment, make the wildest crosses that you can think of. I do this a
lot. Sometimes the cross is good for some laughs, sometimes they are hard
on your eyes, but they are your seedlings.
It's only if you are going to think of introducing any of your own
seedlings that you had better take a good look around. After all, a
hybridizer who spends too much time in their seedling patch can become
blind to their seedlings faults. But no one says there is any harm in just
experimenting, you may change your mind and decide to become serious.
