ALL THAT GLITTERS (McAllister, 1992) OGB Ivory standards, softly veined yellow. Apricot-yellow falls blushed orange-rust and marked with more distinct rust veins in the throat. Orange-rust beard. Promise to Elizabeth X Koko Knoll. Proven fertile halfbred, but I have nothing to report about its offspring because all of the early crosses I made with it involved my yellow lines, which were relatively low priority when it came to allocating space in seedling beds so I gave its seeds away. As the name suggests, the flower seems to be sprinkled with gold dust, so I do want to try it with some of the other "sparkly" ones like Rhinestone Cowgirl. The name? ". . . is not gold." But this one certainly looks the part. The on-going debate in the garden was actually whether the sparkling yellow-gold of the falls looked more like real gold dust or "fool's gold" - but at any rate the clear, bright yellow gold of this flower cried out for some type of descriptive name. Whether it's real gold or fool's gold, it certainly glitters.

ALMOST PERSUADED (Hunt-McAllister, 1992) Standards are a silken gray-violet, but the plush cream-ground falls are so heavily washed with smoky gray that they appear suede-like. Signal area heavily veined and dotted burgundy. This was among the seedlings Gene had selected on maiden bloom, but not finished evaluating, so the final selection and choice of name was mine. A fully fertile halfbred, from (Esther, the Queen x Dove Song) X Almost. 

ALON (Shahak, 1993).OGB+S. purple (RHS 78D); F. red purple (71A), lightly dotted near base, dark purple signal; yellow beards. I. samariae X A. Houck arilbred seedlings. 

ALRIGHT ALREADY (McAllister, 1995) OGB Prince Thou Art X Bionic Burst. Royal blue near-self with dark, reddish-violet signal and bright yellow-orange beards. More flaring form than usual for halfbreds, but so far it seems to be much better at passing its color and overall iridescent sheen on to its offspring than its form. Originally distributed under number (84-7C-3) in the Gene Pool. One of my very best parents for bright blues. I prefer more intricate patterns, myself, but this attracted the attention of garden visitors, even from its spot in the breeder's bed, so after fielding innumerable questions about why I hadn't introduced it, I decided to accede to popular demand. The name says it all. 

ALTOGETHER LOVELY (McAllister, 1995) OGB Its flesh pink effect is produced by pale pinkish lavender blush over white & pinkish buff ground. Burgundy dotting and veining cover a triangular area around the beard. Granted Wish X Sunrise in Glory. One of my most reliable parents for the "pixelated" pinks and I think there's a good chance this can produce a true tangerine-pink quarterbred if paired with the right TB. I didn't want to use "Pink" in the name, because it wasn't quite the tangerine pink I was after, so I opted for a take-off on the old euphemism for nudity: "in the altogether". 

ANACRUSIS (Mathes, 1992) OGB Oxblood red self with reddish-black signal and beard. From Dresden Gold X T-IA-M: ((I. iberica x I. auranitica) x I. mellita). Registered as an OGB, because it was counted as a tetraploid and appears to be a fully functional halfbred. Most of my experiments have been with other reds, but this carries a lot of possibilities in its genes. 

ANDROMACHE (Van Tubergen, 1915). RC Silver ground with wine-red dotting and veining and a prominent signal. I. korolkowii X I. barnumae ssp. mariae, a classic first-generation cross of regelia and onco species. Of interest to historians, for obvious reasons, but also time-tested cultivar that is an excellent choice for someone trying arils for the first time.  To learn more of its contribution to the development of modern cultivars, see its List of Descendants.

AQUILIFER (Wilson, 1993). OGB. S. oyster white veined gold, gold yellow rib; F. pale gold veined slightly darker at hafts, large round well-defined red-brown signal; wide mustard yellow beard; sweet fragrance. Mainstream X Onlooker. 

ARAB DUSK (Peterson, 1977). OGB-/OGB ). Sky blue with heavy overlay of red-brown on F; beard medium bronze. Esther, the Queen X LP62-126: (Snow Flurry x Asoka of Nepal. An OGB- in the quantum system, but it could be an OGB in the new system. One of my favorite breeders of the type.

ARABIAN MIDNIGHT (Jonnye Rich, 1989). OGB+ S very dark purple black; F deeper purple black, darker black signal; black beard. R74-132 (AR) X Othmani. 

ARIL MESSENGER (Danielson, 1989). RC Off-white standards are veined a rich brown, most prominently along the midrib. Style crests also densely veined light brown. Soft yellow falls have sparse brown veining radiating from a large brown signal. (Isolda x Persian Embroidery) X self. If you like the gardenable triploids like Big Black Bumblebee, Love Conquers All, and Precious Memories – just cross halfbreds onto this. 

ARIL REVERIE (Moores, 1990). OGB- S pale blue, lightening at edge; deep chartreuse styles; F pale chartreuse, fine cinnamon dotting around blue-tipped chartreuse beard; pronounced sweet fragrance. Baby Blessed x Rare Spice. 

ARIL SKYLINE (Danielson, 1986) OGB+/OGB Blue-white standards densely veined violet; similar falls have light smoky overlay and faint purple-blue line signal from large black beard to near edge of falls. Dee Mouse X Esther, the Queen. Has given me some very nice smoky pastels when used with Study in Amethyst. An OGB+ under the quantum system in effect when it was registered, this would qualify as a OGB today. Fully fertile and highly recommended for beginners. 

ARIT (Shahak, 1987). OH S light purple, veined darker and lightly dotted heavier near the midribs. Red-purple styles. F light purple, heavily dotted dark purple, large dark purple signal dotted on edge, dark purple beard. ((I. haynei x I. mariae) x I. susiana) X I. samariae).  

ARTEMIS (Van Tubergen, 1908). RC Elongated korolkowii type bloom, off-white patterned in carmine-violet. I. korolkowii var. violacea X I. barnumae subsp. mariae. 

AS IS (McAllister, 1998) OGB Standards are soft yellowish buff. Yellow-tipped-burgundy beard is framed by burgundy, which is in turn surrounded by an area of apricot, with the remainder of the falls a blend of gold, rust, and smoky grey that is formed by a heavy wash of red-violet over the golden yellow ground. - Chapeau X 84-9A-3: ((Martha Mia x Expert Advice) x (probably) Rose of Sharon). Better than "good enough", but can't be improved by line-breeding because it's a quarterbred so far uninterested in parenthood. 

AT LAST (McAllister, 1993) OGB- White standards have faint lilac veins around the edges. Buff falls are covered with an intense network of fine mulberry veining around a mulberry beard. From Casa Vicente X Joint Venture, the type of cross that can produce both functional 1/4-breds and functional 1/2-breds, but registered as a 1/4-bred on the basis of its breeding behavior. So far, it has steadfastly refused my attempts to cross it with 1/2-breds, but it's produced a few seedlings from tetraploid aril and 3/4-bred pollen (Tribe of Judah). The title of the old gospel song seemed apt for this new development. I certainly wasn't the first to cross 1/4-breds back to 1/2-breds, but this was the first of my seedlings from those many experiments that I thought worthy of introduction. Some of them prove to be fully functional 1/2-breds - which must, of course, be judged against other 1/2-breds from more conventional lines and usually fall short of the mark. Some prove to be rather unimpressive 1/4-breds. "At Last" is that fortunate exception: a 1/4-bred with more of the aril "look" than most conventional 1/4-breds. Its intricate dotting and veining is more typical of 1/2-breds, its flaring form more typical of the 1/4-breds.

ATROPURPUREA (Onco Species) Near-black self, formed by deep purple veining over deep yellow ground. The intensity of the color and the exact pattern are somewhat variable.  In the clone shown here, the ground color shows through on the style arms.  Sometimes it shows as a golden band around the plush, black signal. One of the easiest to grow onco species.  For more information, see the Onco Species poster.