DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES IN SMALL HYBRIDIZING PROGRAMS WITH EQUAL SUCCESS
By Lori-Ann Jones
After hybridizing for over 20 years and testing his approach, Mark Labbe has his own course of action. He never sets pod on a first year seedling. The following year, he likes to choose 7 pod parents and about 10 pollen parents. He uses the same pollen parent on a clump and makes at least 3 pods for each cross.
On the other hand, my approach is somewhat different. I don’t usually set more than a pod or two on a scape but I will set pod on a first year seedling. I like to plan my crosses in the winter months, but I also like to hybridize as to what moves me during bloom season.
This is where Mark really puts a challenge to his hybridizing efforts. After the seeds have been harvested, he combines those seeds from those 3 pods from the same parents, mixes the seeds and chooses 5 seeds only. He either shares his seeds or discards them.
Seeing the results from planting all the seeds from a pod is what makes me happy, but I have chosen 5 seeds from a cross when I have too many seeds, like this year, but I want to see what every cross will give me. Sometimes it can be quite a dilemma.
Mark starts his seeds towards the middle of January and then he plants them in his garden by the 3rd week in May and sees blooms from his efforts the following year.
My seeds are started the beginning of January and planted out the 3rd week in May. What Mark has taught me is to wait just a little bit longer to plant those seedlings because the seedlings seem to respond better to warmer soil.
When I planted near the end of April, I found the seedlings took a little bit more time to adjust. I believe, it is because the soil had not warmed up enough. Either way, I have seen many seedlings bloom the following year.
Do not be afraid to try something different when hybridizing. How do you know if what you are doing cannot be done differently and better if you do not challenge your methods from time to time?
This is a recollection of events prior to the summer of 2015 where Mark found himself having expectations and goals of exploding the edges on his seedlings and one of his approaches was to use his seedling now registered as: ‘Knoll Cottage Blew Me Kisses’ (Labbe-Jones 2018).
By Lori-Ann Jones
After hybridizing for over 20 years and testing his approach, Mark Labbe has his own course of action. He never sets pod on a first year seedling. The following year, he likes to choose 7 pod parents and about 10 pollen parents. He uses the same pollen parent on a clump and makes at least 3 pods for each cross.
On the other hand, my approach is somewhat different. I don’t usually set more than a pod or two on a scape but I will set pod on a first year seedling. I like to plan my crosses in the winter months, but I also like to hybridize as to what moves me during bloom season.
This is where Mark really puts a challenge to his hybridizing efforts. After the seeds have been harvested, he combines those seeds from those 3 pods from the same parents, mixes the seeds and chooses 5 seeds only. He either shares his seeds or discards them.
Seeing the results from planting all the seeds from a pod is what makes me happy, but I have chosen 5 seeds from a cross when I have too many seeds, like this year, but I want to see what every cross will give me. Sometimes it can be quite a dilemma.
Mark starts his seeds towards the middle of January and then he plants them in his garden by the 3rd week in May and sees blooms from his efforts the following year.
My seeds are started the beginning of January and planted out the 3rd week in May. What Mark has taught me is to wait just a little bit longer to plant those seedlings because the seedlings seem to respond better to warmer soil.
When I planted near the end of April, I found the seedlings took a little bit more time to adjust. I believe, it is because the soil had not warmed up enough. Either way, I have seen many seedlings bloom the following year.
Do not be afraid to try something different when hybridizing. How do you know if what you are doing cannot be done differently and better if you do not challenge your methods from time to time?
This is a recollection of events prior to the summer of 2015 where Mark found himself having expectations and goals of exploding the edges on his seedlings and one of his approaches was to use his seedling now registered as: ‘Knoll Cottage Blew Me Kisses’ (Labbe-Jones 2018).
'Knoll Cottage Blew Me Kisses' (Labbe-Jones 2018)
This seedling was used as the pod and or pollen parent and has produced some exceptional and intricate blue and pattern tetraploid seedlings along with giving triple edges on some of the patterned seedlings that bloomed in 2017. His success was almost immediate using ‘All Things to All Men’ (Emmerich 2012), both ways, as the pod and pollen parent.
The generosity and camaraderie Mark exhibits is heartwarming and in the fall of 2015, he shared seeds with Jillian Dulude (my friend and new hybridizer).
This seedling was used as the pod and or pollen parent and has produced some exceptional and intricate blue and pattern tetraploid seedlings along with giving triple edges on some of the patterned seedlings that bloomed in 2017. His success was almost immediate using ‘All Things to All Men’ (Emmerich 2012), both ways, as the pod and pollen parent.
The generosity and camaraderie Mark exhibits is heartwarming and in the fall of 2015, he shared seeds with Jillian Dulude (my friend and new hybridizer).
We have all had the opportunity to observe these seedlings since 2017 along with Jillian’s own hybridizing efforts. The initial results have been impressive with the seedlings produced from ‘Knoll Cottage Blew Me Kisses’. These seedlings have passed the evaluation process and have now been registered and will be introduced for 2021.
'Knoll Cottage Aphrodites Splendor' (Dulude-Jones 2021)
'Knoll Cottage Oh My Oma' (Dulude-Jones 2021)
'Knoll Cottage Demeter's Bounty' (Dulude-Jones 2021)
'Knoll Cottage Selene's Visage' (Dulude-Jones 2021)
'Knoll Cottage Slumbering Psyche' (Dulude-Jones 2021)
These tetraploid seedlings and introductions have unveiled and illuminated what is to come in our future hybridizing efforts. The pattern arrangement places an emphasis on the throat and eye by means of a mirror image on the double or triple edges.
The fall of 2017 found Mark selecting which 2016 seedlings he would be keeping. He does not set pod on his first year seedlings but does use the pollen. If a seedling does not bloom the first year after being planted, he tosses that seedling out. He then chooses which seedlings he will be keeping to hybridize with the following year and moves those seedlings to a new location. Thus he promotes vigor, plant habit and dormancy in his ‘backyard hybridizing program’. It does not take long and becomes evident quite quickly as to what seedlings makes the best pod parents.
The end of the summer of 2018 was interesting for Jillian and myself for we got to start the evaluation process of her seedlings after seeing the seedlings bloom a second time. Based on what we could see on the first year blooms, there was branching and bud count on many of her seedlings along with pod and pollen fertility. Those seedlings that did not bloom the first year received a second summer to bloom in Jillian's garden before being kept or discarded.
Last year, 2019, I tried choosing some seedlings from the outside of my 2018 bed so as not to disturb the other seedlings. No pods were set on those seedlings. What I found in 2020 was not much was different in how the seedlings responded to being moved. The observations showed me that I can set pod on a first year seedling with not much problems to the seedling. This practice allows me to see into the future just a little bit quicker by at least a year.
Selecting the correct parents to cross can be difficult and hard to figure out but when you get it right, oh my, it is so exhilarating. The first time out probably will not yield the best seedlings; however success will eventually come and put a huge smile on your face.
The fall of 2017 found Mark selecting which 2016 seedlings he would be keeping. He does not set pod on his first year seedlings but does use the pollen. If a seedling does not bloom the first year after being planted, he tosses that seedling out. He then chooses which seedlings he will be keeping to hybridize with the following year and moves those seedlings to a new location. Thus he promotes vigor, plant habit and dormancy in his ‘backyard hybridizing program’. It does not take long and becomes evident quite quickly as to what seedlings makes the best pod parents.
The end of the summer of 2018 was interesting for Jillian and myself for we got to start the evaluation process of her seedlings after seeing the seedlings bloom a second time. Based on what we could see on the first year blooms, there was branching and bud count on many of her seedlings along with pod and pollen fertility. Those seedlings that did not bloom the first year received a second summer to bloom in Jillian's garden before being kept or discarded.
Last year, 2019, I tried choosing some seedlings from the outside of my 2018 bed so as not to disturb the other seedlings. No pods were set on those seedlings. What I found in 2020 was not much was different in how the seedlings responded to being moved. The observations showed me that I can set pod on a first year seedling with not much problems to the seedling. This practice allows me to see into the future just a little bit quicker by at least a year.
Selecting the correct parents to cross can be difficult and hard to figure out but when you get it right, oh my, it is so exhilarating. The first time out probably will not yield the best seedlings; however success will eventually come and put a huge smile on your face.