Hi, gang. If you're a species purist, cover your eyes and move on to the next message fast, because I'm going to talk hybrids. As you know if you've been on the list for a while, in addition to growing species bulbs I also dabble in hybridization, mostly with Moraea, Gladiolus, and Calochortus. I've had the most luck with Moraea, where I found that all of the "Peacock" species I've tested, plus some relatives, are capable of crossing. I've been playing with them off and on for about 20 years, and every year I get some cool new flowers, lately many of them speckled and striped. In the last few years I've also been getting some nice results with the winter-blooming Glads, with some flowers that remind me a bit of Alstroemerias or Azaleas. I make several hundred crosses a year, and build a new raised bed every year to hold them. Luckily I have a large backyard! I've attached photos of two of my favorites from this year. MM 15-36b is one of the Azalea-like Glads. Its lower tepals start out yellow, and age to a beautiful burnt scarlet color. In the enclosed photo you can see both young and old flowers. MM 15-122e is one of the spotted Moraeas. It's a cross between M. atropunctata and M. longiaristata, and doesn't look much like either species. Instead it's covered with purple spots, and has a pale orange center. If you like spotted flowers, this will make you happy. There are a lot more new Moraea and Glad photos on my blog. You can see the best of the new Moraeas at the address below. You'll see many other spotted flowers, some with dagger-like streaks on them, strange smoky-looking hybrids with Moraea lurida, and unusual color blends derived from M. loubseri, villosa, and other species. Here's the post: https://growingcoolplants.blogspot.com/2020/08/… And the best of the new Glads are here: https://growingcoolplants.blogspot.com/2020/08/… ml As usual, I welcome feedback and suggestions on things I should try, especially from anyone who has some expertise in hybridization. I'm just an untrained amateur, and appreciate all the help I can get. I'm glad to share seeds of these plants, for free. Drop me a private email at the address above if you're interested. Thanks, Mike San Jose, CA Zone 9. Min temp 20f (-6c) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Gladiolus 15-36b 3.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1440086 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Moraea 15-122e.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 812279 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
