My first attempt at hybridizing

[marriedtomud]

Here's the effect of the past week of
extreme heat.

Fragrant Blue had set seed on every cross while the
weather was in the 80's. Last weeks record temps and he failed to set a single pod. Hopefully he'll recover now that the temps have cooled down.

Curtis/m2m

[marriedtomud]

A great day to be up early in the garden.
Finally cooled down after a good heavy rain and it's actually pleasant to be outside again.

Lachman is down to bud count now ... 18 flowers to go.
When I look back on his crosses it sems like two months
instead of three weeks.

Striptease had two flowers ... and got into the rotation
for pollen. Salute was used heavily. I couldn't help notice this morning that he looks like the smaller version of Krossa. Next year he gets crossed with Montan Aureomarginata. Touch of Class also had a flower but no pollen. If it develops later I'll use it tomorrow morning.
Isn't he a tetraploid? Anyone using them in their hybridizing?

Wishing I had a late flowering version of Montana Aureomarginata. He took with almost everything ... pollen and pod. Early this year I took a samll two eyed division of Sun Power and potted it up ... he's just now sending up a scape. Could be worth trying for MA next spring. (?) Next year will bring a whole new set of variables to the game.

Enjoy the great weather today.

Curtis/m2m

[dmi188]

Curtis, my Wm Lachman is new this year, and the first bloom opened today. I am crossing everything I can with minis, so it got pollen from Surprised by Joy. I am eagerly awaiting (probably another week) a bloom on the very wavy seedling from the seed Kent sent me. It should make great seedlings!

My very best streaked seed setter so far is Diane Gray Dalton, from Ruby42, from last years secret trade. I think nearly every flower set seed, right thru the heat! (this one is outside.) Her last flower opened today.

[marriedtomud]

Hi Denise

I hope you have as much good luck with your Lachman as I've had with mine. Suprised by Joy is adorable.

Know what you feel like to wait on a scape to make flowers ... seems like I waited on Bullseye and Red Dragon for months. Thought all the crosses I wanted to do would run out of flowers before they finally opened. Good luck with Kent's seedling. Post pics if you can ... I'd love to see him.

Lachman feels like the 'anchor' in this hybridizing effort.
There are about 40 plants which get crosses of some form daily but for some reason I find myself starting with him most mornings.

I made the mistake yesterday of doing the crosses with him first and then collecting pollen from the others. Fragrant Blue had made pollen for the first time and WL X FB was one of the crosses I had been wanting to do. FB hadn't been making pollen at all until yesterday. I saved the pollen and will do it tomorrow morning. This morning I counted the Lachman buds left and there are only 18. When did that happen? It's like the gas gauge suddenly reading empty. This past week (with all the high heat) was
a losing effort for the most part ... lots of good crosses lost.

The best lesson learned from all this effort is the keeping of a good daily journal on hybridizing efforts. LOL ... Makes me envious of those who get success by letting the bees do the crosses.

Curtis/m2m

[dmi188]

Here is a crowded group shot of some from Kent. They are only from Feb. or March, so they may very well be pie crusted as they get older.

Remember my sporting Shade Fanfare?
The sporting eye now has pods that are definitely 2 color...Dark green on bottom, apple green on top. I am interested to see if those seedlings come out solid green, or 2 tone.

[marriedtomud]

Got home early enough tonite to do a Pod development inspection and was wonderfully excited about a few things.

'Bullseye' (Lachman mini streaker) looks to be fertile both ways. His first few flowers look to have pods starting and there were lots of crosses where his pollen took. Bright Lights has three pods for the season and two of them are from Bullseye pollen. Also showing pods with his pollen were Tenryu, Whirlwind, Lachman, Kabitan, Golden Tiara,
August Moon, and Lancifolia.

Tenryu Looks to have pods forming as does Lancifolia.
Lancifolia is taking from almost every cross. It even looks hopeful for the Lancifolia X Misty Gold cross ... MG has been incredibly sporadic with takes.

Revolution has one big juicy pod from a cross with the first pollen from Kabitan. On an otherwise empty scape this one sticks out.

Whirlwind X Revolution took also. Revolution hasn't taken with many ... but W makes excellent pollen and has taken with a good few.

Striptease flowers haven't formed any pods (yet) but his pollen looks to have taken with a lot of crosses.

Paradise Red Delight is making a scape. I thought it was late summer flush at first but it's a pod for sure. He's a one eyed baby and they're supposed to be difficult to flower. He'll get carefully watched. He has the beautiful
round leaves with white backs and red petioles.

Hopefully pics tomorrow.

Curtis/m2m

Denise ... how long has the SF been sporting leaves like that? My SF hasn't proven fertile yet and his flowers are about over. Kent has some excellent stock and your babies do look promising.

[dmi188]

Curtis, I picked up that SF earlier this summer because it was sporting. It is done flowering, but has about 10-15 pods on it.

The largest of those seedlings will be blooming sometime in the next week, I think.

I don't think my Striptease has set any pods yet, neither has my streaked Hyacinthina

[Seedseller1]

Thank goodness for all this heat! The last of my pods on Galaxy finally aborted. What a relief. Just think of all the time I would have spent documenting, harvesting, planting, nurturing, cupping, and upcupping, and evaluating and growing on for a year or two. This is gonna be just like bonus vacation time......Not!

[DBoweMD]

Touch of Class has been fertile for me both ways.

[marriedtomud]

Due to some long work shifts I've not been able to
spend as much time in the gardens in the mornings.
Just barely enough time to get the 'majors' crossed.

One good bit of news ... hopefully home early enough
tomorrow for pics ... there are pods developing on a couple of the big flowering fragrants. Royal Standard and Fried Green Tomatos both took from the first ripened pollen of Fragrant Blue and podsd are forming. FB also had ripe pollen again
tonite ... it was collected and will get used heavily in tomorrow mornings crosses.
This is only the second time that pollen has been ripe on FB. Maybe it has to do with cooler nights ... the nite time temps are down to around 60 with daytime temps
in the 80's. Still nothing from Seventh Heaven even though he's had ripe pollen several times.

Lachman is down to his last few flowers .... seems like he's been in bloom all summer.

Curtis/m2m

Mike ... Yup ... it could feel like a little vacation.
Dave ... no luck PP wise for Touch of Class or Halycon (yet).
Denise ... nothing PP on Striptease here either. The pollen has taken with others though.

[wishiwere]

So how does one know when the pollen is ripe?

[marriedtomud]

Ripe pollen is yellow/orange in color and flufffy. If you pick an anther from a Hosta flower and rub it on your hand the
ripe pollen will show. When a lot of the fragrant flowers
open (some of the non fragrants as well) their anthers aren't showing this 'ripened' pollen. Their anthers are the color of wheat and don't produce ripe pollen.

Just because the pollen is 'ripe' doesn't quarantee fertility
though. Thats why Fragrant Blue suprised me. For the first two weeks (when it was excessively hot) his anthers had no ripe pollen at all. Then one day (when it had cooled down) one of his flowers had ripe pollen. I used it as a test and it crossed with two that hadn't had successful crosses at all ... FGT & RS. Seventh Heaven has had ripe pollen most every day but has not taken well when crossed.

Now I have to hope that they fully ripen and then that the seeds are actually viable. Its a long process.

Curtis/m2m

[wishiwere]

Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.

[dmi188]

My Seventh Heaven has finished blooming, and (unless one of the last 2 took) has only one pod. I love the that one tho, so I will try again next year. The one growing pod is huge, tho, as are most of the fragrants!

My streaked Hyacinthina has a few pods....one of them with very pronounced streaking right on the pod. Hoping that will give me some nice seedlings! Hyacinthina sets few pods, but usually gives nice sturdy seedlings when she does.

Neat Splash is blooming now, and setting pods. Trying to cross it with heavier textured ones, like Elvis Lives and Revolution, that are nearby in that bed.

So far, I have not been able to get Surprised by Joy to either set pods, or the pollen to sucessfully take on any others. Oh well, trial and error.

[Willowy]

I'm glad somebody is getting pods, however it is not me. I have crossed five mornings (3 in severe heat) and to date no pods. I hope that some of the crosses this week develop. Even a few will give me something to look forward to this winter....

[marriedtomud]

Had time this weekend to check on pod development .... a few disappointments with small pods turning yellow and dropping off. The high heat period definately shows on the scapes.

Striptease took with quite a few as the pollen donor but now most of them are aborting. There are a few where the crosses are holding ... one of which is Lachman ... so there's hope there yet.

Whirlwind continues to be one of the most fertile for pollen.
I've been remarking the crosses as I get time and I'm continually coming across pods with 'W' as a marker.

Halycon took with a few (finally) and also has a few pods on his own scapes. This one was frustrating because all the opinions on him were that he was fertile both ways ... yet he didn't take with anything here for a long time. I was almost ready to give up when pods started to show.

Fried Green Tomatos had ripe pollen this morning. He's following a similar path as Fragrant Blue had where there is
sporadic ripe pollen. I saved a lot for tomorrows use. FB
pollen seeemed to work better when cured for a day.

Lachman is all finished. His last single bud opened on Sat
and was crossed with Fragrant Blue. I was hoping for Small Sum to open in time for a cross with Lachman but his flowers are taking their time to open.

Fire Island is making a scape. He and Paradise Red Delight are the two latest to finally show a scape. They're about at the same stage of development also. I'll have to save pollen for them as most everything elso will be finished by the time they flower.

Lancifolia continues to open new scapes and the baby division of Sun Power also has two small scapes.

Hopefully home in time for a few pics tonite.

Curtis/m2m

[marriedtomud]

Seventh Heaven has a big juicy pod forming.

This was just about the most anticipated pod since the first crosses with Lachman ... (While that was just a month ago it seems more like a year.)

I was growing frustrated to see SH lose buds day after day with not a single pod to take. Even after the heat settled down there were no pods. When I found that single fat pod on Revolution it was Kabitan that was the pollen donor .... so I tried Kabitan with SH ... and the cross took. It was the very last flower for SH this season ... I'll be watching that one very carefully.

Pics coming soon. Along with a crosses/pods inventory.

Curtis/m2m

[wishiwere]

Well, we'll sit still waiting for pics then

[marriedtomud]

Got home early enough to work in the gardens a bit tonite
and did a little pod calculating ... also got a few pics as promised.

Plantagenia had closed for the day and too early to tell if the first cross took ... so no pics of his flower today. This one doesn't bloom at night ... He starts in the morning and by dusk is closed. The flowers and fragrance really are amazing ... especially for a Hosta.

Lachman's 6 scapes have a total of 110 pods. He was amazingly fertile and there could have been a lot more but I tried repeatedly with pollen from the practically infertile ones like Seventh Heaven .... who didn't take at all ... and Misty Gold who only had a few successful pollen crosses.
Guardian Angel was used heavily with only one pod to form. Also tried PUDC, Red Dragon, & Elvis Lives with no luck.

Some got quite a few crosses (Montana Aureomarginata &
Whirlwind early on & Bullseye & Striptease towards the end)
while others got only limited opportunities. Wogon Gold, Korean Minor, & Shiny Penny had one chance each and they all took. The only two fragrant Hostas available were crossed with Lachman ... Seventh Heaven & Fragrant Blue. FB took on a few crosses while SH didn't on many. Francee got a chance and took. Some seedlings showing promise got a chance and took also. A blue (Halycon color) seedling, the really dark seedling (possibly Lakeside Looking Glass progeny) and the light green with ruffled edging all have pods forming on Lachman. Oh .. and the Niagra Falls Seedling also. He was incredibly fertile.

A few of the more favored crosses making pods ....
Montana Aureomarginata, Sun Power, Bullseye, Striptease,
Fragrant Blue, Guardian Angel, Inniswood, Alligator Shoes,
Revolution, Salute, Loyalist, Wogon Gold, Yellow Splash Rim, Breeders Choice, Kabitan, Halycon, Misty Gold, Maraschino Cherry, Sweetie, Tenryu, Fragrant Heart, Bright Lights, Francee, Frances Williams Seedling, Golden Tiara, Whirlwind, Lakeside Cha Cha, Paradise Joyce, June, & Touch Of Class.

Fragrant Blue's first scape was fertile for almost the entire
bloom cycle. He lost a few pods during the high heat but only a few. There are four scapes on FB. I'll be tabulating the crosses for him in a few days when he finishes flowering for the season.

Maraschino Cherry had seven flowers on a single scape and they all took ... MA, August Moon, Halycon, Bullseye, Misty Gold, & Yellow Splash Rim. One scape sure was easier to keep records on.

Salute is making pods nicely. One of my favorite crosses
with him is making a pod. I had some stored pollen from Misty Gold and it took with him.

Fried Green Tomatos has 6 pods .... Fragrant Blue (2), Bullseye (2), Whirlwind, & Kabitan. Quite a few flowers yet to go with him.

Kabitan has a single pod forming ... but it could be a good one .... it's with Striptease pollen. All the Kabitan pods are bright yellow.

Whirlwind has pods with MA & Kabitan
Revolution has a pod with Kabitan
and Seventh Heaven has one single pod .... also with Kabitan.

Thats the pod count for tonite. Lots more to go.

Curtis/m2m

Whirlwind Pods



Revolution X Kabitan


Purple Pods on Ruffled edged seedling


Seventh Heaven X Kabitan ... the lone pod


Fragrant Blue Pods ... yet to be sorted


Lakeside Cha Cha ... yet to have success


One of my favorites
Salute X Misty Gold


It ain't over yet ... scapes forming on Fire Island

[wishiwere]

Curtis, love your pods pics, but I have one REALLY BIG question?

How the heck do you get 9 pics on one post? Are you paying chris or something?