reply to Welcome

Hi Katie. Thanks for your welcome. It is nice to hear from you. That is
the one thing I've been lacking most - people to talk with about Iris.
I'm afraid tho, I've given you the wrong idea about my skill level. I
wasn't sure how much information to put in a Bio, so I left out quite a
bit. My hybridizing knowledge is very limited, & at this time I'm only
crossing what I like with what I like. That might work in the beginning,
which is kind of where I'm at, but as I go along I know I'll need to
formulate a more knowledgeable & scientific breeding program, which is
what I'm shooting for. I'm not certain you & I are thinking of the same
thing when you say "crossbreeding". What I am doing is strictly crossing
I. setosa with I. setosa. There are no other species involved. Is that
what you meant, or where you referring to crossing 2 different species,
such as I. setosa & I. sibirica? I notice you're from Oregon, Zone 5/6.
I wouldn't know what to do with a climate like that or what to grow. I
assume your Iris options are much wider than mine. What type do you have
presently, & what are your Iris goals? (Don't worry if you have none
yet. The way I got started was I came upon an I. setosa "oddball" way
back in the swamp behind our homestead, a beautiful bright shade of
cranberry! I went home, thought about how special it was all night, &
just couldn't let it waste back there where only an occasional moose or
bear would see it, went back the next day & dug it up. I was so proud of
it, I wanted everyone to have one. That is what started me, so you see I
started only with a single desire & no expertise. You asked if I could
recommend any books on crossbreeding - I have been looking for a good
book that would explain the basics of plant breeding/genetics etc, &
haven't found one yet, but would love to have one. I think that is a
question for the general membership of this e-mail group. They all sound
like they have much more experience than you or I. I am so glad there is
another member at my experience level. It will be a little less
intimidating for me. I am a new Internet person, & haven't figured out
quite how e-mail works. I'm trying to send this to you direct, but don't
know if I'll end up sending to everyone. Hope not-it's too long &
they'll realize how green I am.
Kathy Haggstrom
Anchorage, Ak USA
USDA Zone 3 (sometimes 2B)
hagg@alaska.net
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