Maryann.. I'm thrilled your still on here and hoping some of the ATP group from years ago were still active
Thank you for commenting on my iris kids it's been a long process ..life the past couple years has been beyond busy just trying to keep up with the storms has been a challenge there was a tornado last march, 2 major hail storms and a tenant caught one of the rentals on fire right before I left for Oregon did not leave me much downtime to relax or spend sitting in front of the computer and go over pictures Thankfully this year has been much different
Deryll. Welcome to Iris and Thanks I wish the field and beds always looked like that as you know there is a constant battle going on with the weeds some years I win and keep ahead of them and other years Im happy when Mother Nature freezes them
Im guessing your November has been on the warmer side like us we have had most of the month here in the 60's
pretty rare for midwest weather Ive been able to get a lot of projects that were going to wait for spring done so Thankful were not frozen yet not ready for the long winter!
Tom.. you've got a good eye
love your picks you will have to help me go through them in the spring ..the orange one 19-35A is the furthest along I think there 35-40 plants after I lined it out but if it keeps growing well that one will have a future it checks all the boxes and the color is awesome ..the 19-101 cross was good my favorite was the pure white its really lacy and good stalks probably had 60 of them in bloom from the cross together and had one of the garden clubs over when they were at peak and they wanted a lesson in Hybridizing so we went over form and branching, bud counts and studying the plant for increases so then I gave them a challenge we have all these similar colors all very pretty which one is different and has the best of the qualities that we just talked about there job was to play hybridizer and pick 1 from the bunch to keep it was fun to see there reactions and choices trying to choose just 1
Laurie.. 21-196A was saved I loved the form on it and it was used in some crosses this year as I'm trying to keep advancing that form onto other colors some things show lots of progress and others is like a snails pace especially Reds I get all these pretty colors but not quite what Im after yet with the form.
Joshua.. Thanks it was my favorite of the group couldn't think of anything else like it which is always the goal something unique loved the sunset colors on the falls with those beards
was very happy with that one !
Derlyin..Im glad you like the pictures have had some good things bloom the past few seasons which gives encouragement to keep going with them I miss the catalogs we used to get especially Barry's from Australia it always came this time of the year to get me excited and show what's possible for new color patterns really wish I could have seen his seedling beds before he retired.
We are just getting started with the pictures Ive been a busy bee you will have to send me a list when we get to the end of your favorites it helps when I know people want to grow them in there garden as that is my goal I want to create plants us Gardners look forward to in the spring they are what helps us get through the cold winter months here
Daisy.. You bring up some good points about branching and bud counts and my thinking is the more buds the better and after spending many springs in Salem with Keith his branching standards have started to rub off on me
his plants are incredible and you can guarantee that if your buying one of his it is a beauty nothing escapes out of there unless it fits his criteria.
But the pollen dauber in me also can appreciate having the opportunity to work with plants that are not necessarily a finished product and still need some work to get them there those are the jewels that give us the chance to unlock new colors and patterns many of Barrys things were that way he thought outside of the box and I think his goals were to produce something different that people looked forward to every spring and where would we be without his creations.. A good example of this would be (Decadence) the branching is tight and I used to see the (Judges) complain online about it but the majority of them don't hybridize anything and they missed what an amazing breeder it is the database here is showing it has produced 420 registered children and there will be 1 more from me coming from it from me ..where would we be at today if he would have thrown it away because it lacked show branching.
just my thoughts on it.
