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

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Interploid Iris Seedling

The first to bloom of my [three so far] long shot seedlings. They are from crosses of modern tetraploid 48 chromosome Tall Beardeds with relatively modern diploid 24 chromosome Miniature Tall Beardeds. These crosses usually produce few (or no) seedlings but are a way to infuse fresh new genes from the relatively diverse diploids into the Tall Bearded gene pool. This particular seedling is: 'Honky Tonk Blues' X 'Astra Girl'. It's about at the lower limit of height for a Tall Bearded. The cross could give triploids or tetraploids, but in this case I'm guessing it might be tetraploid because it has quite a bit of pollen. It has a lot less substance than 'Honky Tonk Blues' and the form is retro, but on the bright side, branching is looking like it'll be better and it's also looking like it's got a boatload of vigor - it's got 3 flowerstalks with four blooms open for its maiden bloom and was just a single fan until later last season.
Stay tuned for the half-sister [bud showing at the middle left edge of the first photo], it looks like it'll open tomorrow. It's 'Pink Champagne' X 'Astra Girl'.



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