Re: Re: HYB: breeding strategies
iris@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: Re: HYB: breeding strategies
  • From: &* G* C* <j*@cox.net>
  • Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 13:31:57 -0400
Linda -- A very well-stated exposition of what you have, their traits, and what you're doing with them. I'm not so sure, though, about the "getting where I want to go" part. Are you aiming at getting seedlings that combine the very best features of all of these? If so, what might you have? I keep thinking of taking all the new car models for 1990 and combining the best features of all of them. Won't the end products look like and perform like 1990 models? I remember your stated goal of producing irises that will do well in the "slough of despond". This appears to be the same goal, but particularized to rebloomers. -- Griff
-----Original Message----- From: Linda Mann 
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 9:54 AM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: [iris] Re: HYB: breeding strategies

I can get really snarled up if I focus too much on the details, so Tom's
general comments are really good ones to keep in mind.

So here goes with the snarled up-ness...

starting here - "my" foundation cultivars all have their 'faults', at
least for getting where I want to go.

IMM has soft substance, blooms narrow for modern taste, nearly always
too short, usually makes way too much foliage for the number of stalks
it puts up.  And worse yet, seedlings can often be very retro - short,
small narrow blooms w no substance.  Most are narrower than IMM.  Highly
variable seed production & germination, no pollen here.  But she is the
very best for health & vigor here (in spite of her sometimes quirky
behavior) & routinely passes that along to her kids.  And blooms during
hot weather here (with water, fertilizer, heavy manure mulch).  White
allows some color to show in seedlings, but hides a lot.

MATRIX - somewhat soft substance, fairly good width, but 'banjo' shaped
falls (narrow at hafts), not as strong a grower or reliable off season
bloomer as IMM; tendency for very weak growing (i.e., don't survive)
kids.  Usually fertile both ways, sometimes excellent width in kids,
good seed production, variable germination.  Color comes thru in kids.

VIOLET MIRACLE - good grower, but somewhat erratic rebloom, fairly
fertile both ways, kids are all over the place.  Lots of weak/dead kids.
 Fertile pods are loaded with seeds.  Purple hides everything but
variegata/neglecta/amoena.

RENOWN - prone to illness (disease, freeze damage), heavy spring bloom,
hardly any off season bloom, short.  Big relatively wide blooms, has a
hard time setting/maturing pods here, but is fertile both ways.  Usually
pretty good set of seeds as pollen parent, not so much as pod.  Erratic
seedling survival, wide big blooms.

HARVEST OF MEMORIES - excellent healthy grower, heavy rebloom, but only
cycle here.  Has produced summers for others.  Very pod and pollen
fertile, good germination, survival all over the place.  Tends to
produce retro form even more than IMM.


Keep in mind that this is a long term goal. So don't select seedlings for
further breeding based on having best traits in each seedling. As you have
noted, you can trap yourself into keeping bad traits.


So I'm starting with three rebloom lines - IMM, HOM & VM, with MATRIX
and RENOWN part of the VM line.  These already combine rebloom and
growth.  So call that line AC (using the order you use in your post,
Chuck).  A for (All seasons rebloom), B for Beauty, C for growth
(Culture easy).  ;-) So far, I've been making a <lot> of crosses of line
AC with B, the beauty crosses.  And making crosses of those seedlings
back to B, losing A, but combining BC.  [I've not been using any A's
that aren't also C's.  I have starting trying to get more A's that
aren't C's, but then there is the problem of getting fertility from them
here!]


One for rebloom, one for beauty and one for
plant growth. Lines A, B & C. That is choose seedlings based on a primary
goal, keeping other traits secondary in choice.


Not sure how to incorporate what you are saying here, but maybe that's
what I've been doing with the test crosses amongst the A's?  I was just
trying to see how rebloom in my growing conditions might be inherited
amongst the A's.  But maybe you are saying it might work better to keep
working back and forth within this group?  So little diversity of
color/pattern & all are fairly old form.


From what Tom posted, I was thinking it might be more effective to back

cross the AB's to the A parent.  What do you think?


Then after two or three more generations of? line breeding, cross your two
remaining lines. Use thes plants to go forward.


Linda Mann east TN USA zone 7

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index