{Disarmed} [SpaceAgeRobin] Seedling & Observations

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I noted the observation Chris made about Thornbird seedlings lacking in vigor.  I have had mixed results with Thornbird as a parent with regards to vigor.  A cross of Thornbird x Fan Flare (which for the life of me I cannot find a photo of) produced an ultra vigorous (a 2-yr clump has 19 increases) dog that bloomed last year.  The flowers are a maroon blend with fat brown beards and open standards.  Its siblings though have been on the opposite end of the continuum; some may not bloom for another 2-3 years they are so small (which in my garden equals compost regardless of the flower). 

 

A cross of Thornbird x Caribbean Ahoy is attached.  Falls are not as narrow at the hafts as they look but are too narrow for my liking.  The color isn’t done justice by this photo either.  The blend of lighter violets and magenta is interesting and I think the haft markings accentuate that.  Vigor with this one is pretty poor, the plant giving only 2 increases this spring.

 

The mutual factor here, aside from vigor, is that neither have appendages.  This surprised me with the second cross considering that both parents are space-agers.  The photo was taken to try and capture the small BSE on the falls.  The TBird X CAhoy cross just bloomed for the first time this year so I will be anxious to see what it does with appendages next year.  Despite a fantastic bloom season, appendages on most space agers were very inconsistent this year.  Even reliable Snow Spoon had long horns instead of the usual delicate spoons.  French Horn looked very nice this year however.

 

Another seedling which I will post later is out of Let’s Boogie x Conjuration.  I really am quite fond of it (no SA appendages and no evident BSE, however) aside from its poor substance.  Not proving to be a good parent either (at least this year) but it may be too soon to say.  Looking forward to next year, I have two seedlings that will bloom (assumedly, the plants are huge) from a cross of Flounced Marvel X W.R. Dykes in an attempt to build a new line of space agers not involving Sky Hooks.  Tried some crosses with MDB SA Punk but the only one that took was African Wine X Punk.  I will be curious as to the results as I’ve been told that Punk passes along poor form and muddy colors.  I will post a photo of Punk later on as well.

 

New office software for Rainbow Iris Farm has kept me tied down this week….back to the ball and chain.  Cheers!

 

Horticulturally,

 

Kelly D. Norris

Master Gardener

Contributing Editor, Garden & Greenhouse Mag.

Editor, Dwarf Iris Society of America

Bedford, IA

Zone 4b/5a