Re: Re:HYB: Bud Count Question

Neil  --  Beginning hybridizers should keep this short treatise of yours in
their hip pocket.  There's a lot of important information in a relatively
short space.  --  Griff

zone 7 in Virginia

----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil A Mogensen" <neilm@charter.net>
To: "Iris-talk" <iris@hort.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 1:00 PM
Subject: [iris] Re:HYB: Bud Count Question


> It's been my experience that maiden bloom, especially if the plant is not
> overly strong or especially well grown and mature, is not very
> representative of the well-grown mature seedling in many respects--except
> for basic color.  That may look different, but not be utterly different,
on
> the mature plant.
>
> Barry Blyth, I forget where, commented that on bud count, DECADENCE had
only
> three buds on its maiden bloom.  Here this year, on a new plant, it has
had
> seven or eight, I've lost count.  It certainly is adequate and presents
the
> blooms well.
>
> I've had a lot of surprises in seedlings--sometimes a drastic drop in
> quality, sometimes a whopping increase, such as in the flower's
> "presentation"--I don't know what else to call this--is such that one goes
> away from it with a glow in memory.
>
> The seedling didn't have it in its first year, but has thereafter.  I
> suspect a combination of factors--clarity or luminosity of color, harmony
> among the various pigments (as the beard almost always has at least *some*
> carotenoid family pigment in it, not necessarily in harmony with the petal
> color), form, texture--probably all contribute to the overall sense I'm
> talking about.  Probably other things enter in as well.
>
> Branching and bud count, as well as many factors influencing flower size,
> pigmentation and form are all influenced by nutritional factors.  An
> especially well grown, well fed and watered, limed, weed-free plant has a
> better chance of putting on a quality show than one less well treated.
> Getting several specimens on the show bench from a series of different
> gardens reveals just how variable a variety can be.
>
> Bud count is particularly sensitive to growth conditions, it appears.
>
> The central, mature bloom fan typically will have a stalk with better
> branching, higher bud count than bloom from increases just in their first
> year.  Some varieties are particularly prone to send up stalks from the
most
> mature increases, an asset especially for us who get winter and spring
> weather-induced loss of the stalk from the mature fan.  These, however,
> never seem to have the highest count or best branching of which the
variety
> is capable.
>
> Neil Mogensen   z 7  Reg 4  western NC mountains
>
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