Thanks for the correction. It's a misspelling/typo on my part, not the propagators at Strybing. Some of the info that I found seemed to indicate that the difference, if any, between B. kellermanii and B. peltata includes serrated leaves in the former. I just noticed that someone I know posted pictures of B. kellermanii on the "other" forum (whose name we can't mention...). Perhaps I should contact her and find out if she knows anything about this species. One source (I don't remember which and maybe it was for B. peltata) says that cuttings are difficult and it is best started from seed. I've found many "difficult" things easy to root and many "easy" things difficult, so we'll see. I have never dealt with Begonia seeds, but I will try to save some if it produces any. I found a detailed description (link below, probably well known on this forum) about producing seed and growing from seed. It sounds like a little manual intervention is necessary for self-pollination. So far to my untrained eye it looks identical to many of the photos of plants labeled kellermanii or peltata. I can't imagine it would be hybrid with anything significantly different from these species. If anyone disagrees please let me know. Here is a link that might be useful: ABS

Joe I don't express myself well when I write. I tend to be very straight forward and blunt. I know Kelly very well, I've know him for 20 years his plants will not tolerate the cold. The mama a papa's are mostly from Madgascar, with a mixture of other hybrids, are F2 plants from seed. The mostly have parent of 6 grandparents or more, some from Dick Write and other hybridizers most have a common Grandmother of Doran Black (Dick Wright) somewhere in the Heritage I've also watch Karen Zimmerman and watched her develope over a period of 10 years her They are grown in small pots so not to take up space 25 per flat with 4 " pot they are started in 3" pots or smaller until they are ready to be moved up, in a 4" pot they will offset faster. We now tissue culture them. Kelly's are sold at Target, Walmart, (box stores) they will not grow from leaves, It takes years to develope a plant that will sell well, the Huntington Gardens sell their through the ISI program, and will be offering 3 new named plants per year, with names, and some of the heritage. Kelly works for a very large company and they are marketed in the open market where plants are offered. Now if I didn't answer all your questions write again and I will. If you want to produce hybrids that will grow in colder weather use plants that you already have, keek records on every parant that you use on each seed capsule. When you harvest the seed you will know who the parent are. Must stop hands and brain are refusing to work together. I am not an expert at this and don't pretend to be. I have been lucky to be in a position to watch how it is done. The Huntington only sell plants through the ISI program, 250 only of each hybrid. Norma

What you can expect to get depends on the type of hybrids you are dealing with. The oriental hybrids - more correctly Helleborus x hybridus - are those that will self-hybridize freely so are typically sold as seed strains. All that means is that the grower has kept like colored plants separate from other colors. These are sometimes sold as named forms but for the named forms to come true they MUST be propagated clonally or by TC. Seed propagated forms of named xhybridus can deviate quite easily from the parent plants depending on how pollination is controlled. These are the hybrids I would suggest you select while in bloom as that is really the only way you can be assured of a specific color/look. Other hybrids like 'Ivory Prince', 'Pink Marble', 'Cinnamon Snow', 'Pink Ice', 'Candy Love', etc. are quite different and highly controlled hybrids. Typically these are all propagated by tissue culture, as a good many do not/cannot occur naturally but are hybridized by hand over many years of trial and error and with a great deal of expense involved as well. These are most often patented plants as a result. These do not offer the range of color the xhybridus.....most of these flower in the whitish-green range with pink/mauve overtones. And Helleborus niger is a species not a hybrid :-) Flowers of these will always be white, so inevitably come true to form. There ARE named forms of niger, but they have more to do with profusion, timing or height of bloom rather than any difference in coloring.

I realize it's been a year or so since you posted. How are things going with your new tomato variety in the works? Did you plant the seeds? [EDIT: I didn't read the entire thread before writing everything below. I see my idea has been suggested.] Anyway, if you're in that situation again, you know what you can do? You don't have to save seeds and breed a new tomato to get the same tomato every year (although that would be nice, still). You can just take cuttings and overwinter them. Tomatoes will root in water. Some people prefer to root them in dirt (which may be preferable considering the plant wouldn't lose nutrients as much that way), but water works just fine (it takes a couple weeks). If you ever root them outside in dirt, know that full sun will probably kill them before they can grow roots (so be careful about full sun). Anyway, cuttings will produce the same kind of tomatoes as the parent plant, no matter if the plant is a hybrid, an heirloom, F2, F3, or whatever. So, all you have to worry about is keeping your cuttings alive during the winter. Growing tomatoes indoors is easier than a lot of people would have you believe. Just try it. It might take a little learning through experience. The only real problems I see with this method are these: * Your tomato plants might get diseased, and then future cuttings may be diseased, too (depending on the disease). However, if you keep one potted indoors all the time, it might keep it from aphids, whiteflies and other things that can spread disease. Taking cuttings before pests and disease become a problem is important (so don't wait until your tomatoes are about to get frosted). * It's unconventional to market tomato cuttings (although it's certainly possible). So, what I might recommend doing is rather than only taking cuttings yourself, let other people take cuttings, too, and thus spread them around. Of course, they'll need to know that they actually can take cuttings. Tomatoes don't need tons of dirt if your goal is simply to keep them alive until spring. A 20 fluid ounce pot (though perhaps not ideal), a good window, and a way to keep the soil from getting too cold is probably more than enough (although the plants may get significantly larger and crawl all over the place). If you want big luscious tomatoes in winter, you might want more dirt, and a grow light. You'll likely still get tomatoes using small amounts of dirt (and without a grow light, if you have a window), but I wouldn't count on them being large. Anyway, there's one way to preserve your tomato. This post was edited by Shule on Thu, Nov 20, 14 at 2:51