i have a few named daylilies. i'm interested in your named iris. i am also low on room - and only looking for named plants also. PLMK, Jennifer

Thanks for the info everyone.. Its a Tet (Berry Patch X Jewel in the Crown) (the rest of this cross has been duds so far, this is by far the best of the lot, a few wont bloom until next year.) SunFast (fades a little more to a mellow coral, but keeps this color to the end) 18 BC wasnt bad, It was a terrible year, this was by far my best BC on a seedling. I would assume in a year I actually had some sunshine, It would increase to something more reasonable. Though , nothing grown south of me would be as vigorous as would be for them, even in Massachussetts, my season is 2-4 weeks shorter. One of the shortest in the 48 states. It tries to be a semievergreen, but quite frankly I mark things in more accordance of whats Hardy and whats not, what grows quickly with vigor and blooms. All foilage for me will die back to ground level. But this showed green in late fall and early spring last year, where alot of other seedlings were still waking up. It has very nice plant habits IMO , but I would agree that it should lay flatter and have more edge distinction. I will try crossing it next year with a variety of things, and see what I get. LilyNut that article was interesting and I learned some stuff I didnt know, I disagree a little on the rebloom aspect, there really isnt any reason for me to try for rebloom, If a mature clump blooms for 3-4 weeks, well , quite frankly thats half a season for me. Plus I would worry about recessive genes alot. Ive already discovered some of these southern intros Ive used seem to have alot of recessives in them already, where there traits seem hard to pass on. Im all new to this though, so any advise anyone could give , Im more than willing to listen =)... Thanks All, Silverkelt

Jacki- Each hybridizer would keep his or her own records....whatever works for you. sometimes a seedling will get named and the parentage is unknown, and it will be listed as such. Likewise, sometimes the seed parent is known, but the pollen parent is not. However, if you are hybridizing seriously, it is better to have a goal and know both parents. Yes, like your own kids your seedlings, from the same parents, will all be different. Some may look similar to each other, others may be quite different. Regarding your earlier writing about Mom determines characteristics more than dad.....you may have been reading about the inheritance of variegation. The variegation you see in a lot of Hosta cultivars is not inherited in the normal way. Variegation must come from the seed parent. Likewise the seed parent can't just be variegated, it must be what are known as "streakers". These plants have an unstable, streaked variegation.....basically a random assortment of variegated and nonvariegated tissue. This is an unstable form of variegation, and you must constantly cut off and cull reversions on your streakers that are either nonvariegated or stabilize into a more "normal" variegation pattern (e.g. light edge or light center). You may wnat to get a streaked Hosta or two to play with. There are some classic streaked breeders like 'Dorothy Benedict', 'Galaxy', 'Fascination' and many others. Once you get seeds and then seedlings, you will want to grow them for many years to know their mature size and other characteristics before registering a name to them. At that time it is better to only take the best of the best to officially name. Most importantly, though, HAVE FUN and enjoy watching your creations develop.

3) the use of fungicide-treated seed with high germination (see Agricultural Chemicals Manual; specify treated seed before purchasing), ***** Above is the only comment I saw that pertained to seed from the NCSU site and I agree that most of their links are very good. But the site is for professional growers and doesn't distinguish between the genera and species that cause damping off with flowers as opposed to certain vegetables and those fungi are different. I can't see home growers using any of the products mentioned as an anti-fungal for seeds,nor requesting that treated seeds be sent, which is common for squash and other cucurbits but not tomatoes, but Benomyl is not all that resticted and could be used at the first sign of damping off with tomato seedlings. The majority of the other products are not available to the home grower and one has to have a pesticide license to get them and some are banned in certain states. What I seldom see written is that tomato seedlings can come up and show no evidence of damping off but then at 4-6 inches do, keel over and die. I never knew that until I saw a picture and description of it in one of my tomato pathology books. Carolyn Here is a link that might be useful: damping off