Second thoughts

Until yesterday, 8110 was going to be my 3rd most planted pollen parent with 250 seeds. (I did an anatomy of 8110 on my blog on April 9, 2010 - it includes lots of parents, including Kingdom Without End, Gnashing of Teeth, Desire of Nations, Heartbeat of Heaven, and sharky 29504.) They were some of the first seeds I sorted - many days ago when I was still thinking about cutting back on the number of seeds I was going to plant this year. I chose only the best and most obvious crosses - the ones that are genetically related, those with twinkle midribs, feathery or echo eyes, and patterns - and all in the clearest colors. As I was thinking about what to write about 8110 and the seeds I had chosen, I thought again about the fact that I've never seen anything like this before. In addition, the color is good and the parents are hardy and making nice kids, so why not try to figure out as soon as I can if there is any chance of the pattern being passed on. So I increased the number of seeds by 50% to 375 - with 90 different pod parents. Will know in a year if swinging for the fences worked:-)

Most of the crosses I wish I had made with 8110 bloomed late in the season after I had stopped hybridizing. But hopefully the 90 different parents will give me an idea of how recessive the pattern is and if 8110 has any juice as a parent. I used it a lot with related genetics - anything with Gnashing of Teeth (like 11808, 22305, 13207) or Desire of Nations (like 6410, 34209) or Kingdom Without End (like 43509) or 29504 (like 1208, 34507). Plus 47607 and lots of its kids (17809, 27609, 11810). And some of the neon lavender eyes out of 17305 breeding (like 13109, 3910, 21610). Most of these seedlings have more than one of the above parents in their background. (The seedling mentioned can be seen elsewhere on the blog or on my website)