Iris Experiment Disappointment

Several more crossed iris bloomed throughout the past two weeks. The results were a little disappointing. Of the seven or so flower stalks that were produced from the various plant combinations, all but two seemed like spitting images of one of their parents -- either Fantasyland or Frank Adams (from the previous post). There seemed to be no sharing of color combination of the cultivars I was mixing.

This was one of the crosses that appeared a little differently. I see traits of the iris 'Quaker Lady' in the falls of the flower -- they are more horizontal than falling or pointing down. The color is also similar to Quaker Lady. The falls are a lighter purple than the Fantasyland, and the top petals are more lavender than white or the bland color of Quaker Lady.

A conclusion I can draw from this year's results is that crossing the different cultivars I did produced only slight shifts in the bloom colors if at all. And, two of the cultivars either dominated the genetic traits, or the resulting offspring from the other cultivars produced sterile seed that never germinated from the batch that was planted.

For the next experiment, this year I crossed pollen from the black iris with 'Clarence'. Both have ruffled petals, but the pollinator has dark almost black coloration, and the recipient has white tops and light blue falls. I see two seed pods that have developed. Check back in a few years.

Black Iris		Clarence		Quaker Lady