New trait, what value?

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DBoweMD
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New trait, what value?

Post by DBoweMD »

I was pollinating flowers a couple days ago, and when I went to strip the petals off one of my seedlings, I noted the flowers are really thick. It was tough to peel them back , relative to the usual flower.
It is Montana Areomarginata x Blue Jay.
Not very blue but great substance.
The flower is narrow funnel shaped, near white but lavender as it fades. The petals don't flare like most. They last a day like the others.
I didn't try to post a pic because you have to feel it to appreciate the difference.
So this is not something I really want in a hosta flower... or is it?
It might be useful someday like if we get a wimpy flower with great new color.
I invite your comments as to how this might be useful in the future.
I have nicknamed it "Lederblumen" (German for Leather Flower)
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John
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Post by John »

I think you're exactly right, this plant might be useful for future hybridizing, a bridge plant... I'd be interested to see the shape of the flower...
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DBoweMD
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Post by DBoweMD »

I just took pics but will need to get the cable, hopefully tomorrow. It is very fertile based on the first few flowers that were o.p., and I have various pollen donors crossed... Plantaginea looks like 2 out of 4 attempts may have taken, a little early to tell. I crossed some purple types onto it today.
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Homer_Zn5
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Post by Homer_Zn5 »

DBoweMD wrote:Plantaginea looks like 2 out of 4 attempts may have taken, a little early to tell.
If that is the case, this could be an exciting plant. Good luck!
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Pieter
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Post by Pieter »

The flower is narrow funnel shaped, near white but lavender as it fades. The petals don't flare like most. They last a day like the others.
Sounds somewhat like the flowers on Blue Mouse Ears. While I didn't 'feel' the flowers on them this year, they sure struck as being as heavily substanced as the leaves.
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eastwood2007
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Post by eastwood2007 »

Dave, I really like the name for one!

Since I am new at hybridizing, I'm not sure if everyone has this problem...but when moving potted hostas around, I noticed that some of the blooms can get knocked off quite easily. That was a major problem as I only had one more bloom to try on Marbled Cream Seedling...and it got knocked off moving it!

Do the stems of the flowers you have feel sturdier, also?
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Wild Dog
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Post by Wild Dog »

Don't know a thing about hybridizing but I've wondered if tretaploid plants have different flowers?
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DBoweMD
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Post by DBoweMD »

Regarding flowers getting knocked off...
My impression is that if they are getting knocked off that easily, by just hitting something, they were too weak to make it anyway.
I used to worry that seed pods were getting knocked off, getting upset about it when I was first hybridizing. I now am convinced that they want to come off when that happens. Like the leaves on trees in the fall, they are separating naturally.
Sometimes a scape is not healthy or a plant is going into early dormancy or has aphids and buds get knocked off because they have weak attachments. I think there are a few that are 'brittle', and this can happen, but it is pretty unusual.
When I am trying to get seed pods off for drying in the fall, they are nearly impossible to pull off.
When I am pollinating, I usually hold the flower petals in my hand to stabilize it and it almost never pulls off the plant.
On the plants with long gangly scapes, I am usually putting a pretty good strain on it, lifting the scape by the flower.

Blue Mouse Ears is super thick, almost infertile, and I have not noticed the flowers being this thick. I would think it is tetraploid based on the cardboard like stiffness of the leaves.
This plant is not as stiff as BME, it's more like a Tardiana substance.
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DBoweMD
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Post by DBoweMD »

Here is the plant and the flowers. The red wires are Plantaginea crosses.
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