Horned Iris

John I. Jones wrote:

>>	I would have thought that horns, like color, were genetically controlled.
How is it that  sometimes they sometimes show up and sometimes not?

Many "genetically-controlled" traits are also affected by culture.  Lloyd
Austin, the "father" of the space-age iris, recommended the same supplemental
food and water for peak performance from them as for rebloomers.  

To take a different example, TBs have a higher bud-count than arilbreds, in the
genetically-controlled sense.  In my own garden, however, the average bud-count
of quarterbred seedlings is higher than the average bud-count of named TBs.
While I might be tempted to say that this is an indication of the superiority of
my seedlings, I know that the TBs simply can't live up to their genetic
potential under these conditions.

Sharon McAllister  (73372.1745@compuserve.com)
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