CULT: hybridizing - prepping blooms
From: "J.F. Hensler" <hensler@povn.com>
I've been spending a bit of time this year doing some closeup color
sketches of irises just for fun and started really noticing how the
assorted parts of the blooms are put together.
Being short on patience, waiting for blooms to reach the perfect point of
being just ready to open for hybridizing has been a headache at times.
This year I've been trying something new (for me anyway) in the way I strip
the blooms... As long as the buds are fully developed it doesn't seem to
matter how tightly they're still wrapped. I slice through the base of
standards and falls and lift straight up. The petals come off in one nice
little package with anthers still attached to the base of the falls about
half the time if I've judged the depth of the cut properly. (Anthers are
taken indoors and the pollen allowed to ripen.)
The only things left are the style arms which, ready or not, get a dose of
ripe pollen right away. Anywhere from a few hours to a day later, they get
another dose of the chosen pollen.
It's too soon to tell whether the pods will hold but so far results look
better than they have been in previous years with more plants showing the
beginnings of pods.
Does anyone else strip the blooms this way? I'd be interested in hearing
what results others have had.
Christy Hensler
Newport, WA z4b
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