Interesting, davidrt28. If you don't mind saying so, whereabouts are you located? My marschlinsii are planted in sandy loam which, as far as I've been able to discern, drains quite well, even though the field in question does slope down to a wetland area, and at least some of these larch are near that portion of the site. I'm inclined to think that for conifers generally, the land I happen to have purchased is exceedingly well-suited. Your comments regarding the current status of crosses leading to the Dunkeld-type trees pretty much mirrors one I've had with the guy up in Minnesota who, so far as I'm aware, is the only source for L. marschklinsii. In fact, he was going to cancel it off his list when seed availability became an issue, going so far as to inquire as to the sexual maturity of my trees. BTW, some cones are happening already. In any case, I'd asked him pretty much the very question as to whether the plants he was offering were really true Dunkeld larch, being several generations away from the initial cross. He took it pretty much in stride that these plants, even though now distant from that F1 generation, were still the genuine article. I like them but I'm not sure I agree with that assessment. Leastways for now, they continue to put on magnificent growth increments each year. My one caveat with these trees-they seem to have some trunk strength issues when very young. A freakish wind set up out of the north a couple years ago which managed to permanently bend some of these guys, including two or three which are now supine groundcover larch! But in the main, truly exceptional trees by my reckoning. A little aside: I wouldn't be terribly upset if at some point, my marschlinsii's were to cross with the nearby tamaracks in my woods. I don't know enough about synchronicity of flowering between the two, to know if this is even possible, but I find such thoughts intriguing, if a little opposed to the all-natives bible. +oM

Siam you would really do that for me? Wow that would be great. When I have to do the scarifying on some TINY seeds, my fingers just can not hold on that well. WOW thanks Siam. Are Canna seeds fairly big? Last year I really just started to get seriously into gardening. Had a few Canna's growing that I bought at the store. Then some friends here shared tubers with me. So seeds is the next step and pollinating will be fun to try. Cause I sure did not have any seeds. I checked. Thanks also for giving me instructions on how to treat the seeds and grow them. Hugs Lucy

The odds aren't great that you would get a white one even if you could find someone willing to part with seeds from large dahlias. Dahlias have one of the most complex gene structures in the plant kingdom so the odds of getting anything like the parent are similar to the odds of a human child being just like it's parent! Large dahlias are the hardest to hybridize & set fewer seeds than any other sizes, consequently, most people who do get seed from AA or A sized dahlias use them all themselves- I know we do!

Brian: It would be nice, for tree lovers like us, to be able to get a variety of hybrid pines, but the problem is that there is no market for them that would re-pay the investment of setting up production. The one that may, at some point, be available, is loblolly X shortleaf. The idea behind this one is to develop a tree resistant to fusiform rust, which in some areas is a big problem with southern pines, including loblolly. I am not sure if there are others that will have a commercial market worth exploiting. Another factor is that there are regular pines that are very nice. One thing holding back pitlolly is eastern white pine, which is a flat out gorgeous tree, and which is very productive. It's wood, however is inferior to the southern pines, but it does find a ready market. If I didn't already have knock-dead gorgeous white pine groves, seeming to tower to heaven, at my timberland in far western MD, I might not be "messing" with loblolly, and pitlolly, so much. Northern growers also have red pine--not my favorite pine tree, but productive. The only genus that I know of where there is a great tree fancier's interest in hybrids, is the oaks. You can find all kinds of hybrids there, and I have been sampling some. But here's an idea: if there is something you really, really want--maybe the pitch X pond, you may be able to do a search and find out who, and at what university, has worked with it, and then give that person a call. He night be able to tell you if your idea is a good one, and-- you never know--someone might be willing to send you something. --spruce