Re: HYB: Pink Formal kids

Dear Linda,

'Party Dress' is rather easy to grow, but 'Pink Fulfillment' is not.  It is
very slow to increase and easily lost through bloom-out.  You may be able to
control this somewhat by keeping the nitrogen level a little higher for it
than for normal irises, relative to the phosphates, but at the same time,
doing so risks soft rot.

I might suggest going on to 'June Meredith,' June's Sister' or 'One Desire' if
you are really interested in this line. I havent seen 'June's Sister' offered
even in those places having historics as their specialty.  The others, 'One
Desire' for instance, should be easy to find.  'Pink Enchantment' isn't easy
to keep going either.

Melba Hamblen's t-bearded lines combine Hall varieties, Muhlestein varieties
from the 'Pink Formal' group and some radical outcrosses to blues such as
'Great Lakes' and 'Helen McGregor,' which, by the way, can contribute major
width increases to some of its offspring.

'Pink Formal' is from (Golden Eagle X SQ-72, later registered for Dr. Loomis
by Melba Hamblen as 'Pikes Peak Pink.'  Golden Eagle has much the same
ancestry as the Loomis pinks--Morocco Rose is a grandparent--and appears in
several Hall pedigrees.  'Pikes Peak Pink' may be from Purissima X Sea Shell,
but that isn't known for sure.  In any event, much of the Hall bloodlines and
those from Tell have about a 50% overlap (just guessing).  'Golden Eagle' has
the advantage of having 'Prairie Sunset' as pollen parent--talk about one
tough iris!  It is a survivor.

The line that results in 'Pink Fulfillment,'  'Pink Enchantment' and 'June
Meredith' all involve a seedling #47-72 from (Gold Ruffles x 45-64-1A: Alice
Harding x Dr. Loomis 'Type Dore').  47-72 was a bloom without increase
seedling, but several of its sibs show up in other pedigrees, including Wilma
Vallette's varieties.  The seedling cross that produced 'Pink Fulfillment' was
49-11.  More than one from that cross occur in pedigrees, such as 'Pink
Enchantment' which is from (Rasberry Ice Cream x 49-11, sib to Pink
Fulfillment).

Two of my own introductions descend from 'Pink Enchantment' by way of a Suiter
seedling from (Peggy x Pink Enchantment) which I crossed with Fay's 'Fleeta.'
Several from this cross were very slow of increase, and prone to bloom-out,
showing the ancestry from 47-72 still having an effect several generations
later.

The Loomis "Type Dore" is probably closely related to Morocco Rose and Sea
Shell.  Morocco Rose is one of the major progenitors of the Hall pinks.

The Utah pinks look different than those from Illinois, because of different
conditions, different eyes doing the selection, different soils.  The idea of
incorporating blues and whites also occured to Fay and later to Nathan
Rudolph, so by the time we get to Pink Sleigh, the ancestry of that line of
pinks is a parallel but much different from Melba Hamblen's work.

'One Desire' has the rather remarkable quality of incorporating a number of
unusual and different genetic sources from either the Utah or the Illinois
pinks.  It also has remarkable color.

What I am suggesting is to be wary of the Utah pinks for slow increase.
Select those that do not show this characteristic if you want growable,
quality offspring.  Also, include things like 'One Desire' for its diverse and
different genetic potential.  Mixing in some of the recent Keppel irises--or
those from Joe Ghio--such as Keith's 'Vienna Waltz,' 'Paris Fashion,' or
Ghio's newly introduced 'Treasured' from 'Fogbound' breeding.  And--I would
suggest giving 'Fogbound' another go.  Sometimes one beginning fails--another
takes off like a weed.  It is a fantastic parent--and includes 'Honky Tonk
Blues' in its ancestry through 'Wishful Thinking' (another one to try!) which
adds a dimension of diversity.

If you are interested in some 'Fogbound' seedlings to try out, I could suggest
a source.

Neil Mogensen  z 7 western NC mountains where some rivers are still at crest,
others dropping--and lots of roads under water.

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