Re: HYB: Ghio's breeding lines
- Subject: Re: HYB: Ghio's breeding lines
- From: G* S*
- Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 23:48:58 -0600
From: Glenn Simmons <glsimmon@swbell.net>
"Mark, Maureen" wrote:
> Glenn,
>
> For someone who enjoys talking about it, you hardly wax eloquent! Beautiful
> red seedling??! Can't you tell us more? How is it different from other
> reds? What aspects are you trying to improve?
>
> Maureen Mark
Well Maureen just don't expect too much because I am an amateur at this and as I
said there will be a lot of experimentation involved with this. This spring
will be my second year at hybridizing but I believe I have a good base to start
with.
The red seedling I am working with is from another hybridizer and the seedling
is about 20 years old, never registered or introduced. Sadly I do not know it's
lines. The red is an old iris and has an older form but with some ruffling. It
is very dark, almost blood red and you can see a sheen of black with some brown
on the petals. It is a self with gold beards. The blooms don't start fading
until they are about to drop off the stem. This seedling is one of the hardiest
iris we have in our garden and consistently puts on a good amount of new growth
each year.
My own personal tastes, I like Joe Ghio's iris. I like the form of his blooms,
the ruffling, color of Joe's reds, the tangerine beards and his bloom size. We
live in southwest Missouri and can have extremes in temperature both summer and
winter with numerous freeze / thaw cycles in the spring. Our weather here
probably has some effect on Joe's iris, they don't always have the growth and
hardiness I expect.
I crossed our seedling with Lady Friend last spring, that was my first cross.
Last year I bought a lot of Joe's iris that have his reds in them. I am going
to try to get Joe's clarity of color, ruffling and beards in a plant that has
the vigor, hardiness, substance and color fastness of this seedling. Who knows,
I may still be trying this until the day I die! :) The red seedling is a
beautiful flower but it lacks the form of the today's flowers. Also I really
prefer a lighter red, this one is a little too dark for my personal tastes.
The red seedling, even as old as it is, attracts the immediate attention of
anyone walking into our garden during bloom. Everyone who sees it wants it.
And right along side of it is Lady Friend, we could completely sell out of both
of these irises every year but neither are for sale.
I will be happy to tell you all anything else you want to know. Just try to be
a little patient as I am a beginner at this. It is fun though. I thoroughly
enjoyed myself making the crosses last year and can't wait to go at it again
this year! :) If everything blooms this year I will have a huge selection to
choose from! :)
Glenn
--
Glenn & Linda Simmons
Springfield, Southwest Missouri, USDA Zone 6
g*@swbell.net
or
G*@netscape.net
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