Re: Lavender

Since my primary breeding work is in the color range we're talking about, I
have made an effort of collect breeders that hopefully will thrive here as
well as give good quality in the seedlings.

I have obtained things by loosely- defined categories.  As time goes on and
successive seasons pass, the list is being whittled down rather sharply,
either because the cv doesn't please me, or I hear too many negative comments
about its performance

The loosely-defined groups:

Hamblen-blooded lilac/lavender/orchid types with tangerine beards--I've used
two that are strong to Hamblen ancestry--Enchanted April and Ambroisie.  Both
have performed well here.  I have seedlings still coming on from both but have
stopped giving space to the latter since I don't intend to go further with
it.

Schreiner violet-to-orchid/lavender, not tangerine bearded, but with probable
"t" in the pedigree:  Swingtown is the primary one, but Lenten Prayer is also
being given space and used even though I am not especially pleased with the
form but love the color.  Singtown has a lot of qualities I especially like,
and I like most of what I hear about its performance from comments on
Iris-talk.  Hot southern gardens may not be its best home--it seems to perform
better further north;  others include Cranberry Sauce, Prince of Pirates as
outcrosses from the Schreiner line.  I have but do not plan to use Diabolique
much, although the Suttons' have some good things from it, and some seedlings
now growing have Diabolique in their ancestry.  The balance of comments made
privately have been decidedly not positive about Diabolique as a parent.
Others may have had a different experience with it?

Blyth and Maryott violet, lavender and rose/violet bicolors and bitones with
complex but somewhat similar ancestries:  Debrenee, El Cerrito, Louisa's Song,
Wearing Rubies are the main ones in this group that I have kept after seeing
bloom or know about their progeny, or have not yet bloomed and am evaluating
performance; I have bloomed and kept Man About Town; have acquired or am
acquiring Mastery, Machismo and Decadence.  I expect to use this group
heavily, and have seedlings also from Silk Romance now growing.

Gatty/Keppel pink line orchid, violet bitones and selfs, "t": Fashion
Statement, Fashionably Late, Vienna Waltz--the latter appears to be a
particularly good parent, and has width, ruffles, lace and is a survivor-plus
here;

Keppel, Ghio "Fogbound" family: numerous seedlings with various ones from
above groups, plus Paris Fashion, Crystal Gazer, Venetian Glass and am adding
this year Adoregon and Treasured; haft width, ruffling and branching are
excellent generally in this group, and colors are sparkly clean, and I hear
high marks given performance and progeny of Fogbound;

Ghio line bred--Romantic Evening, which has been very fruitful of the color
range in its grandchildren, plus some of its more vivid offspring such as
Ocelot, Idol, Fiery Temper, Foreign Legion; also the probably related
Infrared

Tasco violets to violet/blue:  acquiring Dream Express, First Wave to look at,
consider and very probably use, not only for their color but for the more
extreme ruffling present and I note the good comments made about them or their
immediate ancestors;

Silverado orchid and violet offspring:  Avalon Dreamer, Maid of Avalon,
Brazenberry, Concise, Thunder Quay--the latter two unusually wide hafted.
Silverado's complex ancestry (white, orchid and Schreiner darks) makes it
especially interesting.  Silverado's own performance here has been uneven,
with apparent susceptibility to yo-yo winter and spring temperatures.
Hopefully at least some of the offspring will be more even performers.

Some others, not easily categorized above:  Poem of Ecstasy and
Shoptalk--which is a premium breeder from what I have seen of its
offspring--and I wait with considerable anticipation Merle Roberts'
introduction of its descendant ROXANNE, now expected in 2005.

Out of these possibilities surely there will be fruitful combinations.  I'm
deliberately crossing distantly related lines in order to diverge or move into
turf that isn't carbon-copy of any of the above groups.

Some examples of the foundation crosses made include (Vienna Waltz X sib to
Power Woman: (Swingtown x Romantic Evening)) for example.  One of these
seedlings was crossed with a closely related (Power Woman:(Swingtown x
Romantic Evening) X Happenstance) seedling.  Power Woman itself is somewhat
lighter than Royal Purple to Plum Purple.  The sib is a cranberry-purple-red.
The two seedlings crossed were both a bright rose color, close to my central
goal, but I am waiting another bloom season to evaluate form, substance and
branching.  What I have seen so far has been too limited a sample of their
behavior to allow me to judge whether to pursue this pattern.  So far, they
look promising.

If anyone has had a growth problem with any of those I've mentioned above, I'd
sure like to know about it.  My hope is to breed a family of widely adapted,
disease resistant babies.  Dream on!--such may not be possible, as those
growth patterns or qualities that make a cv a survivor in Manitoba or Quebec
may just be opposite those needed for optimum performance in Fresno or Fort
Worth.  I'll take what I get, I guess.

Neil Mogensen   z   7   western NC  with yo-yo winter and spring conditions
that sure does weed out the weak.

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