Cheerleading Reblooming Iris Hybridizing: Zone 6

by Betty Wilkerson

It's winter.  Time for me to grab the pom poms and start cheering for irises and reblooming irises in particular. I tend to think of myself as the number one cheerleader for raising and breeding rebloomers for the colder zones!  Many of the things that rebloom freely in Australia and the west coast of the US of A, will not rebloom in my zone 6 garden.  I've tested many throughout the years.

Once again I will attempt to encourage and support young people to join the small group of people working toward better rebloomers and better acceptance of rebloomers in the colder zones .  Why not grow irises that provide a second, and sometimes more, round of blooms?

After some 31 years of trial and error and lots of research, here is what I propose might be the best avenue to pursue in a breeding program.  Since most, if not all, of the plant habits come from the pod parent, it is important to start a program with a healthy plant that is disease resistant with good branching and required bud count.  Use strong rebloomers with good form, like 'Lunar Whitewash,' 'Gate of Heaven,' and Wilkerson seedling # 2130-01Re, as the pollen parent.  It is thought this is the best way to pass on form while having a good chance of rebloom.

'Lunar Whitewash' (Innerst 2003)

'Lunar Whitewash' and a seedling (Innerst 2003)

'Gate of Heaven' (2004)

2130-01Re (Wilkerson seedling)

Some of my best parents for rebloom have been seedlings 2130-01Re and 2025-01Re and also 'Star Gate' and 'All Revved Up.'  

2025-01Re (Wilkerson seedling)

'Star Gate' clump (Wilkerson 2004)

'Star Gate' (Wilkerson 2004)

'All Revved Up' clump (Wilkerson 2007)

'All Revved Up'  (Wilkerson 2007)

Some irises with the strongest rebloom characteristics, like 'Over and Over' and 'Immortality' have a more tailored form. The solution to this problem is to use the irises with good form as the pollen parents, as stated above, while using the more tailored ones as the pod parent.  It's also fun and educational to do reverse crosses, or do the cross both ways.   'Over and Over' can give good form, too, if used with a more modern formed rebloomer.  I've a spot that 'Immortality' likes and I'm happy to have blooms each fall.

We would like to see more advancements within the rebloom group, by bringing them closer to the wonders of the more modern oncers.  It's a tough goal, but we need it to be done.  Just make sure your seedlings are an advancement of the rebloomer in your garden.  Keep the parents in your garden and compare yours to the best currently available that perform in your garden. I stress "in your garden" because only you have your growing conditions.

'Over and Over' (Innerst 2001 )

'Immortality' with Dahlias (Zurbrigg 1982 )

'Immortality' (Zurbrigg 1982)

Another reminder.  Rebloomers are going to be judged as garden irises, the same as the Dyke's Medal contenders. It will be rare that an early blooming rebloomer will make a show bench other than in the fall shows.  Typically we only have three fall shows: one in Region 4, one in California, and another in Georgia.  None in region 7.

If you choose not to work with rebloomers, at least make some regular crosses. One or two rows of seedlings across the back of your regular iris planting.  Some of the best irises have come from a small backyard.  You never know when something great may show up. 

In summary, I'd like to urge all people to remember the plant first and then their special interests.  It's really difficult, and frustrating, to bring plant health, branching and bud count back to your lines, so use a quality plant as the pod parent.  Some feel that rebloom counts as more or extra bloom. Personally, I think it's good to get a decent bloom count in both the spring and fall.  Will I hold back an otherwise good introduction due to slightly lower bud count?  No.  

Winter is a good time for research.   Read everything you can find about iris and rebloomers.  We need help!

"What Happens If You Cross These Two Irises?"

By J. Griffin Crump


At our recent Chesapeake and Potomac Iris Society picnic, we were treated to an excellent presentation by one of our youth members, Colin Campbell, on the basics of hybridizing.  As part of the program, he illustrated various types of irises, from the long-standing descriptions --selfs, neglectas, amoenas-- to later emerging differentiations such as glaciatas, luminatas, etc. Inevitably, the question arose, "what happens if you cross such and such with so and so?  What might you get?"  There was a good deal of discussion about what might be expected of crosses between certain color combinations and/or between different patterns. Colin put a couple of  hypothetical crosses up on the screen and invited us to speculate as to the outcomes.  Unsurprisingly, there were various opinions.

So I thought I'd post here a few of my own introductions together with their parents, and you can judge whether the progeny is what you would have expected.  Try to just look at the two parents and speculate about the outcome before scrolling down to the next photo.


Here are 'Blackbeard', a border bearded,  and 'Betty Dunn', a tall bearded:

And their progeny, 'Blackbeard's Daughter', a tall bearded:

'Blackbeard's Daughter'

Interestingly,  'Blackbeard's Daughter' came out a tall bearded, whereas 'Blackbeard', the pod parent, was a border bearded.  I would have predicted a border bearded offspring.

Next, we look at a result of a cross between TB seedlings 02P2 and 01S2:

02P2

01S2

                                                                         
And their TB offspring, 'Prince Igor':

'Prince Igor'

Not too surprising, eh?  The pod parent is a strong red self, and the pollen parent also has rich mahogany red falls.  Its amoena factor is probably recessive.

We turn now to Seedling 02F6 X 'Starring':

 02F6   

'Starring'

                                                                                          

And the result:

'La Cumparsita'

Very much like its pod parent, but with a fuller shape.  It picks up Starring's red-orange beard.

The result of the next cross, 'Lili Marlene' X 'Cherry Glen', surprised me greatly.

'Cherry Glen'

'Lili Marlene'

 Here 'tis, and a rebloomer, to boot, though neither of the parents is:

'Autumn Nectar'

Sometimes, I get a seedling that I like but don't know what to do with.  That was the case with 20Q5, which I held onto for several years before acquiring Sterling Innerst's 'Lynsy Alexandra', which is very similar in bloom form and overall flower structure.

'Lynsy Alexandra'

20Q5

Both of these are what the late Dick Sparling used to call "small talls" with slender, nicely curved stems.  So, I was very happy when 'Lynsy Alexandra' X 20Q5 yielded a similarly shaped, but taller seedling which I will introduce in 2015 as 'Entrancing'.

'Entrancing'

'Entrancing' clump

A cross of Standard Dwarf Bearded 'Lumalite' by Tall Bearded rebloomer 'Blazing Sunrise' produced an outcome that surprised me.

Lumalite

'Blazing Sunrise'

Namely, 'Spring Again', an Intermediate rebloomer.

'Spring Again'

What surprised me was the complete dominance of the pollen parent's pattern.  Without the sun's backlighting, this flower has nice, solid apricot falls and pale apricot standards.  It's a reliable rebloomer.

Continuing to play with SDB 'Lumalite', I crossed it with TB 'Summer Olympics', i.e., 'Summer Olympics' X 'Lumalite':

'Summer Olympics'

'Lumalite'

And got IB 'Coral Chimes':

Who knew?

Pressing on, I made the cross IB 'Coral Chimes' X SDB 'Lumalite',

'Coral Chimes'

'Lumalite'

 and got SDB 'Bradán Eolais' (Irish: The Salmon of Knowledge):

Enough for now, and I trust you have noted that although you may set hybridizing goals, you never know for sure what may result.

Iris Hybridizer, Spare That Sprout!

By Griff Crump

Beginning hybridizers are often advised not to make decisions about new seedlings in their first year of bloom.   This is good advice for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that a hasty decision could result in sending to the compost pile what might have been an award-winning variety.

Actual practice among hybridizers varies, with some advising that a seedling should be evaluated for at least 3 years and, at the other extreme, some yanking and discarding first-year plants that don't please them.  Hybridizers whose growing space is limited may be forgiven if they fall into the latter category.

Even though my own garden is spatially challenged, I have always tried to follow the "at least 3 years" practice -- at first, simply because I respected the advice of more seasoned hybridizers that the first year of a seedling's bloom doesn't necessarily represent what the flower may do in its second or third year.  Over the course of years, however, experience has taught me that irises not only mature, but do so at different rates.  And maturation isn't the only thing that can change a plant's appearance.  Replanting and moving from partial sun to full sun, for instance, can make quite a difference in stature, and a difference in soil can affect color.

In a recent post on Iris Lovers, I mentioned that I came close to discarding IB 'Coral Chimes' when I first saw it, because it seemed to be the ugly duckling in a bevy of mostly cheery yellow-and-white siblings.  Its single bloom seemed muddy in color.  Nevertheless, I spared it, and still couldn't decide in the second year.  By the third year, however, it had matured into a glorious clump of coral-hued blossoms that reminded me of a fresh-faced choir.  I didn't waste film on it the first 2 years, but here's how it looked in the third.

'Coral Chimes'

I also save ungerminated lots of seeds from what I consider important crosses.  I mention that because the next example of maturation has a really unusual history.  In November, 2000, I planted 45 seeds of Brazilian Holiday X 98G1:(Lady Friend x Chinese Treasure) in three pots.  None germinated, but I saved the pots, letting them ride out the weather unprotected for the next 5 years (I'm stubborn).  In 2005, a single seed sprouted.  I planted it out as 05I1, although there was no "2".  It didn't bloom until 2007, and then was only border bearded in height.  Still, it was an amoena with dark velvet falls, and I was pleased.

05I1

The little thing was planted in a bed which was shaded at midday by a dogwood tree.  After its second year of bloom, in 2008, I replanted it in a full-sun location.  Voila!  In 2009, it bloomed at full TB height, well-branched, AND with a golden glow at its throat.  It won "best seedling" at the Fredericksburg Area Iris Society show in 2011 and was introduced as 'Lezghinka' in 2012.

'Lezghinka'

Finally, another benefit of holding onto seedlings for a while is that you may benefit from others' perspectives.  Seedling 064C10  had, from my point of view, a rich heritage ((Marguerita x Mamauguin) x Best Bet) X Ranks of Blue.  Nonetheless, it sat in my garden and was moved around as a re-select for some time until it produced a huge clump and attracted the attention of other irisarian visitors.  Acting on their advice, I introduced it in 2012 as 'Night Bird'.

'Night Bird'

 So, examine your seedlings with a critical eye, but don't be too quick to toss them.

Planning and Luck In The Iris Garden

By Griff Crump

Not all good results come from planning.  Sometimes, they are just gifts.  But in either case, we should be grateful.

Looking around among my seedlings, I find instances of both, sometimes in combination.

When I first saw 'Lumalite' (J. T. Aitken, R. 1995) at an iris show, I was so taken by its glowing appearance that, with the exhibitor's permission, I took it outside into the daylight to see if the effect lasted.

'Lumalite'

I acquired it as soon as I could, and crossed it with, among others, 'What, Again?'. 

'What, Again?'

I confess that I had no plan at this point --  just curiosity to see what the glowing effect of one combined with the curious color composition of the other would produce.  What I got was a gift: 'Elfin Sentinel'.

'Elfin Sentinel'

I was delighted with the flower and registered it, but it had a shortcoming (literally) that caused me not to introduce it:  The bloom barely topped its foliage.  Looking at its brilliant colors and clear patterning, however, I wondered what a back-cross to its parent 'Lumalite' would bring.  For one thing, I wondered if the slight blotchiness of 'Lumalite''s falls could be erased.   And it worked!  The new seedling retained 'Lumalite''s glowing heart, cleaned up the falls almost entirely, and added ruffles.  I introduced it as 'Bright Sprite'.

'Bright Sprite'

'Tis said that ignorance is bliss.  I can attest to that.  At a meeting of one of our iris societies several years ago, two good long-time hybridizers of my acquaintance were discussing the rebloomer 'Best Bet' (Schreiner's 1988) and the difficulty of keeping it alive (at least, in our area).  Both agreed that they would never use it in hybridizing, because of that fault.  I said nothing, since I already had a cross from 'Best Bet' that hadn't yet bloomed.  When it did bloom, it was a perky, hardy little border bearded amoena that, because of its colors and its parent's unhappy reputation, I registered as 'Against the Tide'.

 'Against the Tide'

Because of 'Against the Tide''s hardiness, I never feared to use 'Best Bet' in my breeding, and it is in the background of a number of my introductions, including  'Deep Purple Dream', the rebloomer 'Haunting', Ranks of Blue', 'Royal Pageantry' and a very prolific 2013 offering, 'Night Bird':

'Deep Purple Dream'

'Haunting'

'Ranks of Blue'

'Royal Pageantry'

'Night Bird'

And if one looks in the Iris Register at the 64 other entries involving 'Best Bet', it's obvious that many other hybridizers, as well, were either unaware of or undaunted by 'Best Bet''s bad press.
 

Another example of when the planning worked was the crossing of Barry Blyth's 'Knighted' (1987/88) with seedling 962N: (952Y3: (Champagne Elegance x 93L1: (Wabash x yellow Wabash sdlg.)) x Best Bet).

'Knighted'

Sdlg 962N

With strong amoena heritage on both sides of this cross, I looked for an amoena outcome, and wasn't disappointed.  Besides 'Royal Pageantry', which we have seen above, a near twin, Seedling 02S2, was produced.  I hesitated to introduce two such similar flowers, but have reconsidered, since garden visitors want it.  So, I plan to introduce it shortly.  Two photos of 02S2 follow:

Sdlg 02S2

Of course, a plan doesn't always work.  I had great hopes for the cross of 'Aura Light' (Blyth, R. 1993) by 'Romantic Evening' (Ghio, R. 1994).  The broad, flared, well-ruffled falls of both, with their heavy substance and bold colors, and the heritages suggesting the possibility of an amoena . . .

'Aura Light'

'Romantic Evening'

. . . and yes!  The cross produced amoenas 01S2 and 01S3, so alike that I can only tell them apart by keeping their plantings well separated, with rich, overlapping broad mahogany red falls  ---

Sdlg 01S2

Sdlg 01S3

--- BUT . . . 'Aura Light', for all its spectacular bloom beauty, is just a tad short in stature, and it passed it on to its kids, so that, in my estimation, these two seedlings don't have quite the proportion of height to bloom size that they should have for introduction.  But, with planning and and a bit more luck, do I hope that they'll still figure in something beautiful?  You betcha!