Re: arilbred culture / "autosyndetica" (again)
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: arilbred culture / "autosyndetica" (again)
- From: T* T* L* <t*@rt66.com>
- Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 15:47:59 -0700 (MST)
Ian wrote
:
:Well, had I known that my "autosyndetica" plants were AB's (of a sort), I
:would have panicked and brought them under glass for the winter. As it is,
:they went outside. Not only did they survive, but they actually seem to
:have been growing, and we have just had a fairly foul winter.
They are arilbreds, pure and simple. But (here's the key) they are
regeliabreds with no oncocyclus ancestry. Regelias are not hard to grow,
even in climates that are too damp for the oncos. Here in northern New
Mexico they just go crazy; a two-year-old clump usually gives 20-30
rhizomes, and they bloom freely. In Los Alamos, I had started just pushing
the things into the ground amongst the violas and dianthus, just to see
what would happen and free up space in the aril bed for plants that really
needed to be there.
Problem is, regelia flowers don't look anything like onco flowers, and it's
the "onco look" that continues to be the holy grail of arilbred breeders.
The obvious plan is to use both oncos and regelias in breeding, to get the
look of the former and the gardenability of the latter. Most modern
arilbreds probably have a bit of regelia in their ancestry. Howard Shockey
said he would never deliberately incorporate regelias in his breeding,
because it takes so many generations to breed the regelia look (which he
considered undesirable) out of the flowers.
There are some nice regeliabreds on the market, and (if you like the way
the flowers look) they are worth trying in places where other arilbreds
have problems. Stars Over Chicago, Blue Arts, and Circus Parade come
quickly to mind.
Personally, I *love* the way regelias look, and can't wait to get my
breeding plans for them underway.
:I would hesitate to draw any firm conclusions from a
:population of two, but it does seem that there might be an interesting
:opening here for anyone enterprising enough to develop a new strain.
:
:So - who will try??
It's high on *my* list. I'm working on an essay on this subject for my
gardening page; I'll post a notice when it's ready.
In the meantime, the Danielsons (both Henry and Lu) have produced many
lovely, vigorous, and adaptable regeliabreds. They don't look like
"classic" arilbreds from onco breeding, but I for one appreciate the
diversity!
Happy irising from Tom (whose pure arils are growing ecstatically in the
fresh soil of the new garden, where the TBs are still pouting)
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Tom Tadfor Little telp@Rt66.com
Iris-L list owner * USDA zone 5/6 * AIS region 23
Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
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