... growing and hybridizing all kinds of plants in zone 6b Maryland since the 1980's.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Small Grains Update

Looks like the 'Kamut' wheat and 'Hulless Barley' have both been winterkilled, but 'Black Emmer', Rye and "Smooth Awnless Club" have done fine once again. The new F1 wheat crosses all are doing well too.

Iris purpureobractea seedling with red leaf margins

Here's a better close up of that seedling with the red-margin trait (posted earlier in March).


Below is its papa who carries the red-margin trait (sorry about the messy picture), practically obscured by purple pigmented foliage bases. This one is 1/4 Iris suaveolens var. rubromarginata, which is the original source of the red-margin trait.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Iris purpureobractea seedlings

It's just about time for Spring and it's a good time to see foliage pigmentation in bearded iris seedlings. Here are two purpureobractea seedlings that are showing some red/purple leaf margin color. Actually this red-margin trait is derived from the pollen parent which is 1/4 Iris suaveolens var. rubromarginata. - a tiny dwarf species known for that pattern of leaf pigmentation.

Below is a sibling with less dramatic leaf margins but considerable basal pigmentation - known as "PBF" (purple based foliage) among iris enthusiasts. The PBF is also primarily coming from the pollen parent. This particular seedling is looking like it has considerable hybrid vigor, evidenced by the broad (at least 1 inch already) foliage on this very young plant. These are presumably diploids (with 24 chromosomes); foliage this broad is more typical of tetraploid Tall Beardeds.