HYB: Seedlings

Good morning robins:  I always plant my seeds on Thanksgiving Day in styro 
boxes according to cross.  This year I only made a few crosses and for a reason 
I no longer remember they got mixed up so I planted 4 boxes of miscellaneous 
crosses.  The babies poked through the earth in early February and by early 
March, some were in wads and growing rapidly.  I used a pickle fork and eased out 
the most crowded and planted them in 3-5 gallon pots.  The rest I will 
probably plant in April.  This can be an interesting unexpected experiment to see 
what, if anything, is the difference.
My favorite iris ELECTRIC SURGE has already bloomed and I saved the pollen.  
I like it so much because it is modern, early, extremely suited to humid hot 
old Texas and the color combination is smashing.  Most of my seedlings from the 
past 10 years either have ELECTRIC SURGE, RED AT NIGHT, or LADY FRIEND in 
their parentage.  I try crossing them with HELEN COLLINGWOOD, WM SETCHEL, 
VICTORIA FALLS for increased vigor.  I also use a lot of REPARTEE but am looking for 
increased bud count and reliability.  Another old favorite is SUAVE but I 
can't keep it alive and blooming long enough to get anywhere.  I do dream of a 
vigorous and floriferous REPARTEE or SUAVE though.  Another more modern one I 
would like to improve on (for my area) is VIGILANTE.  It is a real weenie here.  
Actually, I find SILVERADO rather a weenie here too.  I love PLANNED TREASURE 
but have stopped using it as a parent as it is a relatively late bloomer here 
and tends to melt if the weather has warmed too much already.  WINTER SCENE is 
one I need to re-acquire.  It does really well here but I seem to have given 
it away too generously.  Oh, but I know when they stalks present their 
treasures, all sense will depart and I will begin dabbing pollen madly and 
indiscriminately.  What I really need to do is keep notes on WHY I made the crosses I 
made.  Every single cross had a reason behind it at one time.
Barbara Null
Tyler, TX  zone 7b/8a

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