Francee Streaked

[dash]

Hi all,
I bought a Francee this year that has a couple of eyes that have gone streaked. It has set a few pods and I was wondering if anyone has had luck with this one ,Thanks -Dash

[Chris_W]

Hi Dash,

While streaked versions of Francee have been introduced and sold as streaked "breeders" I'm not sure how useful they will be. Francee isn't used much itself and while there are a lot of sports there are very few hybrids with it which means seed set and viability might not be that great. If the seed pods that formed have any viable seed inside it would be worth trying them.

Good luck with it!

Chris

[dash]

Thanks Chris,
We'll see come December.

[R. Rock]

Hi,
I have been having good luck w/ Francee. I am pretty sure I also seen it work as a pollinator today from a previous cross. I had some really hot, humid days and nights though. The pollen is definetly better w/ heat. Some of the flowers are definitely more fertile than others on the same plant. However, it is too early to tell for viability. My research is also simlar to Chris's.
At the same time, Sharp Dressed Man came from an op Francee. I am intrigued by the leaf shape and most of all the veins. They really accent the elongated leaf.

[dash]

Hi Nut House,
Thanks for your input. I bought my first few streakers this year and only have Francee with pods. I'm really excited about the possibilities I also bought a Blue Angel streaked,Savanah Supreme, Spilt Milk and a un-named streaker. Did I mention I'm really excited -dash

[R. Rock]

Dash,
Yes, I like the excitement.

Don't get your hopes to high for Savanah Supreme. The fertility is low to none. Pretty plant though. Spiked Punch would also be one to avoid. Allen Haskel also. Those are a few I know. I was hoping for babies at one time; wish I had known or been told.

[dash]

Nut House,
I take it a good streaker is hard to come by.

[DBoweMD]

Fertility is pretty important in a streaked plant. All streakers are harder to come by than stable plants because they are hard to mass produce.
The best way I would recommend to obtain streaked fertile hostas is to get seeds from good fertile breeder plants and grow as many of your own as you can. Some with be fertile, some not, but the cost per plant is minscule, and you have good chance of getting something better than the parent.
When I was getting started about 2004, Katails (Kathie) on this forum was a godsend for my hybridizing program by sending me open pollinated seeds from her garden, which I grew and crossed the second year and now I have a lot of streaked babies that are very fertile, all of which came from a couple of the seeds she sent.
Read into this: the majority of the seeds were not very good because they had one of several problems:
Produced all solid babies
Went all green or stabilized to an edge the second year
When they finally flowered they had low fertility
Didn't send up flower scapes.

However even if they are slug bait, poor form or substance, you can correct those problems by only crossing them with great pollen parents, like tardianas.
They just have to have good fertility and be streaked finely in the middle of some of the leaves to give you a new generation of great breeder plants.

[dash]

Hi Dave,
The input is greatly appreciated. I've been buying streakers but I'm not sure how reliable they are yet. I'll start looking into getting some seeds since I've already busted the budget this year with 106 new additions. I'm having a great time. Thanks again for your advise. - DASH

[timhensley]

IF you go to hostaseedgrowers.com you can look up many streaked plants and see how they have been rated by other growers. It's kept me from spending money on many hostas.

[viktoria]

I obtained a streaked 'Francee' 2-3 years ago and it is now just 'Francee'. Won't throw money away on that one again.

Viktoria