That will really be something to look forward too. Talk about hovering.

I finished getting them planted. There were 56 babies this year. Last year I had one cross that had 61 seedlings alone. Now that job is done, I need to keep the blankety blank rabbits out of them now. Last year they would pull them out and leave them lay. I bought some blood meal to spread around them, I've heard that it repels them, but now I can't remember where I put it. If it weren't for my mind, I'd have nothing to loose.

I know the feeling, Tom...................

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

Then Celia you have not lost it entirely. Because if you had you would never know you miss it.

Hmmm...you've run rings around me, logically.

Sorry to have gone too zen Spock on you. ,

I do it to others.

Wow, I get anxious waiting for daughters to get big enough to bloom. I cannot imagine waiting for seeds to sprout and blossom. Is that three or four years to wait, And I liked the rim on the yellow and burgundy bitone, too.

These seedlings were seeds last year. Most of them wait two years to bloom, but a few bloomed after one year. I got my seedlings into the ground a month earlier this year, so I'm hoping I get a greater percentage to bloom next year. I think areas with a longer growing season get earlier bloom then I do here.

I was sorting through some pictures and realized that I didn't post a picture of one of the seedling. It's much like one posted earlier, but somehow I missed posting it. So here it is, it's another Can't Touch This X Gypsy Lord.

Tom, did you have any bad seedlings? I have heard that you will get a lot of bad irises in each batch of seeds. Yours do not look like muddy or malformed irises.

That's a beauty too, Tom. You really did a good job on these!!

I don't think it always is that they are bad, but that they may not be unique enough to merit introduction. If there are similar ones out there that are of equal or better quality, there's no reason to introduce them. Also they may not have good growing habits, or they may lack enough bloom. Have poor branching. Weak stems. I think one has to look at the total package. IMHO I'm not terribly fond of the shape of this last one. The falls droop too much and are kind of base narrow, and the standards are kind of strait up. It did have multiple sockets, and decent branching for a new seedling. I think there will be many of this cross that look like this color pattern. We'll have to see what next year brings. I have 61 of these siblings, and only a few bloomed this year.

I love the coloring and bright beard, but was going to ask if the form was like that for all the blooms- I see the drawback there. It will be really exciting to see the siblings bloom!

tveguy3 said:This is from the same cross as above, the one that opened inside. It has a faint wire rim on the standards and the color is more blue. They both have an almost florescent edge on the falls, one more lavender, the other one more blue.


If you expand them you can see the wire edge on the standards better. It probably would have been nicer had it opened outside. We'll see what happens next year.

Love the dark standards and light rim on this one.

tveguy3 said:Here's the last of the seedlings.


The white stripe down the falls goes all the away to the end. Kind of different. The standards are really white. The falls color is much darker then either parent.

UNIQUE!

caitlinsgarden said:

UNIQUE!

That one is a sibling the one I just posted.

yes I like irises 1 & 2 over the last one.

IMHO I'm not terribly fond of the shape of this last one. The falls droop too much and are kind of base narrow, and the standards are kind of strait up. [/quote]
I don't know a lot about what makes good form, and I buy my Iris based on color and comments from all of you on ATP, but the droopy falls is what I like best about this Iris. It's different and I really like it.