Re: 4 petal blossoms - how about 2?

Birdie,  these abnormal blooms--missing parts and such--are not uncommon at
the end of the bloom for a variety with high bud count.  It appears the
nutrients or the enzymes run out or have gotten used up before the blooms
all have formed.

It is not at all uncommon, and has no genetic consequences.  Four (or more)
sided blooms occur at the beginning of the bloom on some varieties,
especially among SDBs, apparently for the same reason--an imbalance and/or
abnormal supply of the nutrients and/or enzymes responsible for how-much,
how-many on the blooms as they are first spinning off from the "stem cell"
meristem (undifferentiated cells at the growing tip).

That process involves some very complex bichemistry and supply, arrangement
and work of some significant growth regulating hormones.  The miracle is
that most flowers--and bloomstalks--are within "normal" boundaries in form,
substance, part-counts and such.

On the show bench it never ceases to amaze how varied irises of the same
variety look when coming from different gardens--or even different parts of
the same garden.

Neil Mogensen  z 7  Reg 4 western NC mountains

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