I'll play...
My fantasy cross would be a strongly fragrant white reblooming iris, lots of ruffles and maybe space age with flounces, on white variegated foliage. Maybe a strongly contrasting orange beard like on 'Nordica' would be a nice finishing touch. (Or a strongly contrasting blue beard!)
Just to give an idea (as I have all of the irises below):
x
x
x
x ?
reblooming x space age flounces x ruffles x orange beard x variegation and fragrance = ?
The day that I stop dabbing pollen and making and collecting and planting seeds, even if only a few (out of several hundred) is the day that you can just shoot me, because surely it is all downhill from there.
Seriously, you don't have to plant thousands or even hundreds of seeds. You don't even have to plant a score! But you have to be seriously space or mobility or health constrained if you can't manage at least half a dozen seedlings.
And regarding the "health constrained" part of that - I have found time in the garden, doing
whatever - to be beneficial on several counts. Whatever my mood is (mad, sad, depressed), it helps... and if I stagger out there with a headache (I'm a chronic headache kind of person), just puttering around out there gives some relief in that direction, too.
(And I would say that I am not the only person to find outdoors time beneficial... DH not long ago found an article about certain populations that had the greatest longevity, and what was striking to him (he is *not* an outdoors person) was that a common denominator for the people in these cultures was that they all spent some amount of time outdoors, doing farming/gardening/other outdoorsy types of activities.)
So go make your fantasy cross. Go collect those seeds! Go plant at least
some of them! And then wait and watch them grow... and finally bloom!
(And just so you all know... I am
not an optimistic cheerleading type of person -
at all! DH calls me "Ms Negative", so if *I* can find reasons to get out there and do it, and I can find or make the energy and time (otherwise sucked up by my dog, chores, and other pursuits) then you can, too.)
