HYB: traits passed on?

Hello.
I have been dabbling with irises for a few years now.
 I know, ideally, hybridizers should pick the best of the best to work with,
as with any plant or animal hybridizing.
What I am wondering is as follows.
I made a cross between Sapphire Hills and Violet Miracle just for fun.
I ended up with a rather small deep purple flower with a purple beard.
I am not surprised about getting a smaller flower, something worse than what I
started with.
What I am wondering is, could this hybrid pass on the better characteristics
of either of it's parents to a future generation? Or will this cross likely
just further regress in future generations and just ruin anything better I
outcross it to.
I'd guess this still has SH and VM genes, so it could potentially create
another nice sized flower down the line, especially if outcrossed to something
better. I'm also thinking, maybe incorrectly, that if backcrossed to itself
(if it takes) it could potentially create something looking like either of
it's parents again.
Is this right, or is the genetics 'watered down' into it's own 'line' and my
results would be the same or worse than what I already ended up with?
Just wondering if my thoughts and 'semi'understanding of genetics is right, or
if this plant is just a mulch pile scrapper. I don't want to waste 2 or more
years of time to discover what others have already learned.
 
thanks, steve m.
zone 4b n e minnesota

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index