HYBRIDIZING HINTS 
For those who, like myself, feel a desire to have a hand in the creation of new iris, | offer 
these personal notes. My findings may not agree with your own and you may have other ideas 
in approaching your color goals. It is impossible, always, to know, with certainty, just what a 
cross will produce, although we may expect from two yellows a great percentage of yellows, 
or whites from whites, blues from blues, pinks from pinks, etc. However, the background of 
parents may play an important part in the progeny, so it is well for any student of hybridizing 
to know and study family trees (or pedigrees) and for this reason | have decided to give parent- 
ages, so far as possible, for each variety listed. 
Unless one has unlimited space he should confine his hybridizing efforts to the development 
of one or two colors which especially interest him. There is, of course, room for improvement 
in every color class, and who knows the unheard of combination of colors that may be achieved. 
But we have yet to produce a true red, a better pink, deep orange self, pure white, a sky blue, 
plicatas of better quality or of unusual pattern and design, a true black, rich yellows of various 
shades of color and form, better amoenas or creams, and the somewhat neglected lavenders 
and orchids. You may want to play with the hybrids, Wm. Mohr's descendants, species, dwarfs, 
or find interest in producing intermediates (crosses between tall bearded and dwarf bearded 
iris) and little has been done in this class for some time, and they certainly are a floriferous 
type of iris and filt the gap between the early dwarfs and the later tall bearded sorts. Or you 
may find interest in Spurias, Dutch or the Louisianas. There is room for all. Some growers fear 
it unlikely they might produce anything in the Pinks, for instance, for great strides have been 
made since so many are working in this color. But who can say where the real break may come? 
Perhaps some veritable novice will, with a first cross, produce a color long sought by other 
systematic hybridizers, yet it will be welcomed by an iris loving public regardless of who may 
have produced it. So, pick the color, or colors, you want to breed for, employ the latest work 
of others. Use, as well, your imagination and skill as a hybridizer and your work will be crowned 
with success, if not at first, surely after a generation or two of your own seedlings, for you will 
learn which lines give results. 
Use the Best 
It is a good rule to use the finest parents obtainable. Possibly one will produce better and 
unusual seedlings by using the latest in color developments, although some seedlings are notori- 
ously good parents even though old. If one seeks tine form, width, depth of color, branching, 
height, smooth texture, etc., use iris possessing them, or known to produce these qualities. Build 
on the success of others. It is a difficult matter to work alone. It would be unwise to go back 
to original breaks such as Sea Shell or Kashmire White, for modern seedlings are so much 
better in size, form and substance. It would be useless to do the pioneer work of the Sasses 
all over; rather use their great developments together with lines from other hybridizers to work 
toward your goal. Line breeding, once a color is established, will bring forth good results, but 
| would suggest breeding out for hybrid vigor, depth, size, substance or form, and refinements 
will come in later generations. 
Making the Cross 
| hope no would-be hybridizer wastes his time spreading pollen on the beards of iris as | 
did the first year | tried my hand at making crosses. It seemed the natural place to put the 
pollen; otherwise why were the stamens directly above these beards? | then studied Salbach's 
manual and the next season crosses were made properly—each labeled to indicate the pollen 
parent, and | do believe | crossed every flower that opened. Needless to say my ‘‘first children"' 
were a ‘dirty-faced’ lot—dog-eared, strarpy, open-standards, tucked falls—every fault imagin- 
able. | did number three hundred ''remarkable'’ seedlings, but only the following were actually 
named: Mount Timp, Cool Lemonade, Rare Marble, Melody Lace, Late Guest and Dawn Overlay. 
And now, although | grow as many seedlings | number less and less each year even though 
the quality gradually improves. One's judgment, together with the high quality of modern iris 
betters—and every hybridizer must be super-critical. Wise would be he who could wait to 
introduce a sure-fire Dykes Medal winner, but think of the dozens of fine varieties (and all the 
missed varietal comments) we should be denied, and possibly some unborn world-beater would 
never see the light of day because its blood (just the right blood) was kept from introduction 
because it was not a pertect iris. 
At any rate, fanciers who wish to start hybridizing iris as a hobby would do well to procure 
all the books obtainable on this fascinating subject, and above all they should become members 
of the American Iris Society for this will keep them up-to-date on all matters pertaining to our 
favorite flower. The Society has published a book, "The Iris An Ideal Hardy Perennial" and 
they carry Sidney Mitchell's new book: ''Iris For Every Garden'' both of which any fancier 
should have for they contain a wealth of material on history, hybridizing, and every phase of 
iris culture of interest to the amateur, advanced collector, or hybridizer. 
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