Will all this new infrastructure be dedicated exclusively to your hybridizing efforts?

Evan,
Almost entirely; one house will be all stock Philos for hybridizing, one for stock Alocasias for hybridizing, one for Anthuriums, one for Caladiums, one for miscellaneous and one for seedlings - I guess I'll need one to grow some plants up to size for selection, and plenty of outdoor growing areas for hardier plants and/or cold resistance tests. Already I have enough big Philos to fill up one of the 20 x 40 greenhouses, and can come close to filling up the other 20 x 40 with Alocasias, many of which need repotting and will be reaching for the GH roof. Anthuriums and Caladiums are easier to contain. My largest current greenhouse (10 x 20) will become either the new Caladium house or miscellaneous house.

Space, as they say, IS the final frontier . . . especially for plant people.

Here's a pic of one of my P. goeldii hybrids that threw blooms this Spring with nearly black spathes and sharply contrasting white spadices. The parentage is (coral gables dwarf x P. bipinnatifidum type) x P. goeldii - the spathe color could only have come from the P. bipinnatifidum used in the first cross, meaning that plant was a hybrid, not a species.



The unopened bloom shown has since opened and I've crossed it with pollen from my hybrid, P. "Waverly", shown in bloom in picture below. (Edited to note that the pollinated "black" bloom has fallen off so evidently this cross failed).



Colored blooms are not unheard of in Meconostigma Philos; one species I need for my work is P. eichleri, which has brilliant red blooms. I have an eichleri x stenolobum hybrid with the red blooms, but so far have not gotten a successful cross on it. The plant is throwing blooms this Spring, so will try again!

The plant below is (Philo. "Chumley curly" x (P. speciosum x P. bipinnatifidum)), F2 generation. I was trying to get the Chumley curly to drop back out by going for the F2 - the results are certainly unique and interesting but not yet the Chumley curly. I've since done a successful F3 (selfing the F2) and should have a better chance of getting the Chumley curly to drop back out. The seedlings are still too small to see if I got it yet.



By "drop back out", I mean that a plant or plants with the characteristics of one of the original parents appears in the seedlings. This is done typically by selfing the F1 to get the F2, or selfing the F2 to get the F3. In some cases, it may require going to the F4 to get the segregation. In this way I can recover a parent, which in this case is the P. "Chumley curly".

Is Chumley Curly the same plant as his cold tolerant "Miniature Selloum" as Steve Lucas called it?
http://www.exoticrainforest.co...

Evan,
Yes, the "Chumley curly" is the same plant as the one that Steve Lucas pictured as "Chumley's miniature selloum". I've spoken with Chumley in person regarding this plant and have seen mature specimens in several collections, although I do not have one in my own collection. The "Chumley curly" x P. x evansii F1 type originated with seed set by Chumley on his plants.

IMHO, the jury must still be out on whether the Chumley curly is merely a variant of P. bipinnatifidum or should be a species in its own right.

Which begs the questions...
Are you breeding towards a larger plant?
Plants with greater cold resistance?
How big do mature "Chumley Curly" get?

Evan,
I want the Chumley Curly in my crosses for added leaf interest and for greater cold resistance. Mature Chumley Curlies are smaller than mature P. bipinnatifidum plants, but not near "miniature" size. I'd say, 3 to 4 feet in diameter vs. 6 or more feet in diameter for regular P. bipinnatifidum. My Coral Gables dwarf hybrids are smaller than a Chumley Curly - I'd love to cross one of them directly with a Chumley Curly. That's one reason I'm trying to get a Chumley Curly to drop back out of an F3 or F4 hybrid with the CC in pedigree.

Fun stuff!
Color me green with envy!

I really like regal shield, really unique look to it!
I'd love to see a big one. I bet it's quite the statement!

Looks like a lot going on at the ARC ranch, atleast you got this nice cool weather to work in... :p
In all seriousness tho, I can really appreciate all that work.
It should give you a lot more room to work by the looks of it, I know frost has lead to big setbacks there!
I'm always lookin out for things to be released from there, more room might equal more releases...
So far I've built 3 greenhouses for myself, I always get so excited at the notion of havin more room, sure enough, every time... I move my stuff into the new house... And it's full from the get go... I guess it's a common condition.

I wish it were nice and cool! We're already in the upper 80s and it feels like 90s. We have to stop for breaks about every hour or so for cold water and a spell in the RV A/C. We were at ARC last week, working on greenhouse 3 (the seedling house) - out in the blazing sun, wishing for clouds or a breeze.

You are so right - as soon as all the houses are built, I think I'll be able to fill them up totally. To really have space, I need about 3 acres of greenhouses!

Oh I was joking!
It's been 90 here this week... I was guessing it had to be hotter there, looks like it was " only as hot" as it was here!

Most folks miss the first sign of dehydration and heat exhaustion...
The first sign is actually impaired judgement and the lack of ability to reason... Sound familiar?
I'm joking but serious to, that really is the first sign and it often missed, it's got me a few times!

I bet you could fill up 3 acres under glass in no time! The plants seem to grow before your eyes as you bring em in... 3 acres is deceptively small too.
Do keep us posted when ever possible. I really enjoy alocasia and there's really not alot of really different plants on the market!
Releases from that place remain my very favorites! I'm sure I'd happily grow any number of plants that you've deemed not ready to release.
I'm really excited about regale shields, it's a tough hardy alocasia to survive what I've put it through, and must really be a good grower, not long after I got mine last year I found a mass planting in a very nice neighborhood, they stood close to 5' and really looked they had p-stems already, I'd only known the plant existed for a few months, I was out of the loop the past 2 years but still, I'd have called them second or third year plants.
The leaf color was outstanding for plants that size!
It'll be interesting to see if they find their way into the market like portora.
I got my first 3 mixed into a shipment of odora bulbs from Europe, 3/100!
Man did I think I had something then!
I guess it was around maybe 2002?
Now i see portora everywhere!
They stand head and shoulders over the odora they're mixed in with( literally and figuratively)

Portora is out in the wide market, that's for sure. But when I did that cross many years ago, I got more than one kind of Portora. I was never consulted about what plant to put in the market because it was done by someone else without my consent or knowledge. Consequently, what I considered among the best of breed were not selected from! I have a big green Portora and my personal favorite, the "Thunder Waves", a huge Portora with reddish-brown petioles. I had that one up to around 10 feet tall back in the day.

I have a number of new plants that I want to get out there, while still trying to develop even more new ones. I can develop them faster than the lab can put them on the market, as I go from seed to bloom with a new plant in about a year. By the time the lab has a plant up and running for the market, I have the next two generations in the pipeline!

BTW, the Regal Shields is only one of the seven plants I got from that cross. I have one that came out even darker, with the main veins dark as well, as contrasted with the one on the market that has green main veins.

If you like the Portora, you should see the Ripple Effect - that one is not on the market, but here's a link to it on my site:
http://aroidiaresearch.org/rip...

In fact, I have so many new plants (not just Alocasias) that a large number are not shown or listed on my website. You'd probably go crazy walking around my jungle.

Go crazy? No no... I prefer the term, go native...
Turn your back on me and when you whirl around you'd seem Wiley coyote style cloud of dust and a trail of modern clothes, leading into the bush... It's the skunk ape you guys have down there, not Sasquatch. Right? I'd blend in well
I'm sure I could find a leaf to hide behind :p

I like to think I do a little more homework than the average gardener... Navigating your site can really be a challenge, so many hidden links and such, I rarely notice changes there, but never fail to find links to plants that I've not found...

I would in fact go crazy look through your notes and plant info, a bit of it would be over my head no doubt! I'd still have a blast...

Heya! I just came across 'Regal Shields' at Santa Rosa (with a note that it's one of LariAnn's) and went looking for more info... That is not one that was released without your consent, was it?

Elephant's Ear (Alocasia 'Regal Shields') is a 2013 release according to Aroidia Research page: http://www.aroidiaresearch.org...

Thanks, Lin! It looks like a beauty, and I've been wanting one of LariAnn's babies.

(off topic, but SR is doing clearance sales.. don't forget to use "monkey" for 10% off or "my5" if your order is less than $50)

Hi Jill, I've ordered from Santa Rosa in the past and it looks like they have a great sale going on now. I think I'm going to have to place an order for Regal Shields, I really love the looks of that one. I'd love to find a source for Elephant's Ear (Alocasia 'Tiny Dancers') too, such a cutie!

Thanks for the heads up on the coupon code for SR!

I have a cart filled but have many unplanted pots here, unsure if I'll actually order...

Tiny Dancers in on the wide market now and the patenting is complete - patent number and document issued. Regal Shields is also patent protected. No more "release without my consent" issues for me - I've learned my lesson. Problem now is the huge quantity of hybrids that are backing up in the pipeline waiting for TC and possible patent protection. Lin, if you want to get a Tiny Dancers from me, just email me at AROIDIAN (at) att.net

LariAnn

LariAnn, thank you so much ... I'll send you an e-mail!