I am expecting 1 to 3 inches of snow tomorrow, so maybe I can post some pictures of some seedlings that bloomed this summer. I will post one a day to give you time to critique them. I didn't have anything that I'd consider outstanding, but I had some that I will keep another year to see if the second year is a better bloom then the first year was. I really appreciate honest criticism, so don't hold back. Although this first one is a mute issue as it had no increases and the mother rhizome died after it bloomed. I did kind of like it and it had fertile pollen so I made a cross with it's pollen. That may have been a mistake since it may produce a bunch of offspring that doesn't have any increases, but we'll see. This was a cross with Brazilian Art x Cold Fusion.



I did like it's kind of florescent beard and brilliant colors.

Pattern on the falls isn't one of my favorites, but love the standards and the beards colors.

I like the bright, clear color on the standards. I also like the contrasting color of peach and plum. Just a personal preference but I prefer a plum colored iris over purple. The last photo is my favorite. I like a few ruffles and I love the long falls with a lift at the ends. The first photo shows a lot of light coming through the falls. This may suggest a delicate bloom. If that is the case it would only be lovely as long as the spring weather permitted. The beards are nice and bright.

And I was going to comment that I LIKED the veneration on the falls . It carries the color of the standards all the way into the falls. The beard is nice....and IMHO, would be "nicer" if it wasn't the same tone as the standards and veneration....so, make the beard purple , Tom ! All in all, it's not bad, though, Tom

The underside of the falls were a lighter color, it had quite nice substance and the blooms lasted a long time. It had decent branching too for a first time bloomer. It was double socketed and bloomed over an extended time. But it was a one time wonder and it won't be back. There are several more of that cross that haven't bloomed yet, so we will see what happens with them next spring. There were two more siblings that did bloom, but I didn't like them as well as this one. I will post them later.

thank you tom for sharing.

imho i liked the clear color separation of the standards from the falls, and i also liked the showy beards. somehow, on the falls i felt there needed to be a transition of a slightly different tone into the dark. or i wanted to see a greater portion of the orange transitioning into the plum.

however, the two colors are striking together.....you did say you saved the pollen? have you used it to pollinate another successful cross? and i always love ruffles.

Yes, I did use the pollen and I have seeds to plant. I crossed it on two different irises, and got one pod.

A pity it died after bloom and obviously the biggest fault with this seedling. I'm sorry, Tom, but I have no critique to give regarding the looks as I would have bought this one in a heartbeat if it was available over here and if it had healthy growth.
I'm a hopeless failure at critiquing irises

You are an easy target William.

Here is another one from that same cross. I didn't like this one as well as the first one, but this one had nice increases. I'll look it over again next year if it blooms and see what I do with it.

What do you think?

Love the soft orange standards with the light veining. I'd take the first over the second IF it were still here. The second one just isn't packing the same flavor of overall color.

The second ones standards are more open than I like and I agree that the color is not as outstanding as the first one. The beards are really nice. I grow irises that are not as lovely as these two.

with only critiquing the color I like the second one better. I like the more narrow band of plum on the falls. I think it makes the beard color 'pop' and I just like the the overall all affect.

Tom,

We are getting your snowfall this morning.. I guess winter found the midwest was starting to think we may not see any for awhile and was getting used to the 50's hoping we could keep them through March but woke up to a blanket of white outside.

I like your 1st seedling it looks like you got a good mix of both of the parents.. I did some work with Cold Fusion hoping the seedlings will have the wash pattern on the falls like it and your seedling shows it will pass it on very cool

I like the second better for the more subtle blending of dark to bright color on the falls. Still like the beards on the first better, though.

I had planned on composting that second one, but time passed, I didn't mark it, and now I have to wait to see where it is next year. I have noticed, however, that some of the ones that bloomed the second year have much improved form over their first year, maybe it will look better next year. I do think it is going to end up in the compost pile.

Have to be ruthless when hybridizing, right?

I guess you do, but I probably need to be more so.

Here's the last of that cross to bloom.

It had just opened and hadn't relaxed much yet here.


Here it is after relaxing a bit.

Here is another picture of the very first one listed that was a later bloom in the season, the other picture was the FFO.