RE: perennials DIGEST V3 #529 (Seed of hellebore hybrids)
This is a bit of a minefield... It is true that if you collect seed
from, for example, one of Helen Ballard's named hellebores the
resultant seedlings are highly unlikely to be identical to the
parent; this is especially true if there are other hellebores nearby
and the bees take the pollen from one to the other. It is true,
however, that they're more likely to be the same general colour as
their parent than another colour altogether.
It is also true that in some circumstances when the flowers of an
individual plant are self-pollinated, either intentionaly by hand or
by bees, the resulting plants will be very like the parent. However,
because named and selected hybrids vary in their genetic make-up the
extent to which self-pollinated seedlings will resemble the parent is
not obvious from simply examining the plant. So, in short, seed from
hellebores should not generally be trusted to resemble the parent.
The exception is when a breeder, like Elizabeth Strangman at
Washfield Nursery in England (now closed), specifically developed
parent plants which when crossed with each other, or selfed, produced
predictable offspring. Seed and plants produced in this way are
reliable. But few people take the trouble to do this.
However, this is not much help to the rest of us. So what we can say is this:
1. Seed from proven high quality plants, named or not, is likely to
produce plants of a generally high standard even if the colour is
unpredictable.
2. Selfing, or crossing different plants of the same colour, is more
likely to produce plants the same colour as the parents than allowing
the bees to do the pollinating.
3. Do not be fooled by remarks in seed lists like "ex 'Black Knight'"
or "from our best yellows"; while this seed will have a better chance
of producing plants in the same colour as their parents than seed
from other plants, it's unlikely to be hand-pollinated unless this
fact is specificiually stated. So all the seedlings must be grown to
flowering, the runts composted and the best selected.
4. If you want identical plants, you must divide the parent.
Graham Rice
Northampstonshire, UK
>One of the posts mentioned ordering seeds for Hellebores hybrids. It was my
>understanding that seeds of hybrids don't come true, that the hybrid plant
>must be vegetatively propagated. Can someone clarify this for me? Thanks!
>Mea
>
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