Updated: 05/15/02

In many respects, 1984 was the year of the halfbred. It brought more experiments, including some successful reciprocal crosses, but because many crosses produced multiple pods there was a bumper crop of seedlings even though only 38 crosses were planted.

84-2: Thunderstorm X Shades of Sunset. I made this cross to test the fertility and breeding potential of the Hunt seedling that I later introduced as Shades of Sunset. It proved fortunate as 84-2-2 became Land of Enchantment.

84-3A: Hunt Pink Plicata Seedling X Edith Seligmann. One of many experiments in quest of quarterbreds with more aril characteristics. Gene Hunt had bred a line of pink plicatas, which he described as more compatible with arilbreds than many other TB lines and expected the recessive pink to allow aril characteristics to show through. I continued testing these and found he was right. Only one introduction from this cross, but 84-3A-1 became Joint Venture, which proved fertile enough to produce a number of seedlings when crossed back to halfbreds. The offspring of such crosses must be evaluated for fertility as well as plant characteristics. Some are quarterbreds with unusually prominent aril markings but some are rather mediocre halfbreds.

84-4B Desert Princess X Rose of Sharon. Two "pinkish" descendants of Esther, the Queen crossed in hopes of getting both the t-factor and the violet inhibitor. My favorite, 84-4B-12, had a burgundy signal and beard on primrose yellow ground. It became Glamour Puss. Another, 84-4B-13, with white standards and falls the color of banana cream pie became Topped With Cream.

84-5: Gethsemane X Ora J. Seale. One of those "what if" crosses I sometimes find hard to resist. It produced a variety of colors and patterns, including the sultry 84-5-13, which I named Whirling Thunder.

84-5A Promise to Elizabeth X Koko Knoll. A reciprocal cross of yellows, testing maternal inheritance of plant type. Produced many striking selections, some of which I now wish I'd introduced. Seedling 84-5A-16 became All That Glitters.

84-6A Koko Knoll X Promise to Elizabeth. The reciprocal cross of 84-5A, which also produced a lot of good seedlings but I was more interested in information than introductions. Nevertheless, 84-6A-4 became Dot's Nice.

84-7A: Paisano X El Coronel. An early experiment in getting signals on arilbreds by crossing onto bitones and bicolors. It worked, and 84-7A-1 was introduced as Sweetness and Light.

84-7C: Bionic Burst X Prince Thou Art. Experimental cross for blues that really paid off. 84-7C-1 turned out to be a soft butterfly blue that was named Blusette and 84-7C-3 a royal blue with bright orange beard that became Alright Already.

84-9A: (Martha Mia x Expert Advice) X (probably Rose of Sharon). The pod parent was an exceptionally large reddish violet that Gus nicknamed the Towering Inferno. The non-irisarian who harvested the pod for Gus that day didn't realize the paper tag was to be saved but was able to say which plant the pod came from.  Our notes showed that the pollen parent was most likely the seedling later introduced as Rose of Sharon. As Murphy's Law dictates, there were many striking seedlings, several of which were used in subsequent crosses but only one of which was introduced. Number 84-9A-2 became Keep 'Em Guessing.