11
« Last post by Silvy on January 23, 2025, 08:41:26 AM »
thank you very much .. I will keep you updated on my experiment, I still have a month to prepare the tulle bags and the tags for recognition (this time I want to do things properly) .. here it is still cold I hope that around the end of February first weeks of March the weather improves as regards the percentage of double hellebores growing at the moment I can testify that it is quite good... years ago I tried to collect seeds only from double hellebores and to sow them and a good percentage of them were double, considering that in the same flowerbed there are both single-flowered and double-flowered hellebores on which the bees could have collected the pollen thanks for the advice on the seed site I looked on https://seedandbulbtreasures.com.au/shop/seeds... but there are no reds like I am looking for, even if I think that shipping seeds from Australia is subject to many restrictions .. I will try to check..thanks..see you soon
12
« Last post by Jeffnz on January 22, 2025, 07:28:28 PM »
Pollen release from the anthers will not occur until the flower is fully open and usually mid to late morning as long as there is sufficient warmth. Bees will also be harvesting pollen, this is the challenge that I had as they will strip all pollen in a single visit to a flower. You can bag the flower that you want to collect pollen from to keep the bees at bay.
You can harvest pollen by using a small soft paint brush or by rubbing a plastic pen on a cloth to generate a charge on the pen end then harvest the pollen by placing the tip onto the anthers. Some doubles do not produce a lot of pollen, cant comment on the double Ellen line as they are not available here.
If you want to get genuine double seed google Seed and Bulb Treasures, they are based in Tasmania, Australia and sell a range of seeds including hellebores. The seed comes from controlled crosses and will give almost 100% doubles from seed.
Good luck with your efforts wolud like to see what you develop.
13
« Last post by Leena on January 22, 2025, 11:19:02 AM »
Stefan, here they flower in April, just like the others, but often come up fully developed when the snow melts, so I'm not surprised they are early in your warmer climate. 'Bambino' has been a very vigorous snowdrops here, not the biggest or most elegant, but a good snowdrop anyway.  I bought it from RSSnowdrops when it was still possible, I believe it is their named cultivar, but I'm not sure. There is not very much about it online. I hope your snow melts so you can enjoy your snowdrops. Here their flowering time is always too short because of winter.
14
« Last post by Silvy on January 22, 2025, 10:04:55 AM »
sorry, you didn't upload the photos of the other two intersections
sorry it took me a while to understand how to insert the photos and correct the post
15
« Last post by Silvy on January 22, 2025, 09:55:17 AM »
thank you very much .. I really hope to be able to complete this project, I have no shortage of enthusiasm, nor space, I have double hellebores of different colors, I just have to learn how to pollinate well (which I didn't do very well last year) .. but now with a little more information I hope to be able to pick the most suitable moment for the pollen to mature (what I lack .. or at least I hope not is the waiting time for flowering, because it takes at least three years from sowing to see the first flower and it is not a given that it will establish itself immediately .. and now I am 78 years old ... but I hope to hold on for a while longer   ) I thought about doing these crossovers..what do you think? hypothesis 1 ....Helleborus Double Ellen White Spotte with Helleborus or. 'Double Ellen Purple hypothesis 2 ....Double Ellen Picotee with Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Ellen Red’ (in my opinion the least likely to get close to the colour I would like to obtain...the second one is too light) hypothesis 3.... Double Ellen Picotee Helleborus with . 'Double Ellen Purple
16
« Last post by Stefan B. on January 22, 2025, 07:56:19 AM »
This winter, I have snow in my garden since Christmas, that's good but... I want to enjoy my snowdrops too. This week I hope that will happen.   Thanks Leena for these lovely ones "bambini"! They appeared from the ground already in December.
17
« Last post by Starking007 on January 21, 2025, 08:19:31 PM »
H.japonica ex 'Ryaugetsu' - a Dream!
18
« Last post by Starking007 on January 21, 2025, 08:14:42 PM »
I can't make it to Vienna - unfortunately...
19
Some more Allium flavum ssp tauricum
cheers
fermi
20
« Last post by Jeffnz on January 21, 2025, 06:49:18 PM »
Modern hybrids have a complex gene pool developed over many generations of hand pollination.
You can be sure that a double x double and an anemone x double will give predominantly doubles, a single x double may give a double but often anemone and singles. The % of full doubles and anemone forms is dictAted by the double used to make the cross.
When crossing singles with doubles it can take 2-3 generations to achieve a full double, back crossing of an anemone with the double will give the best chance of doubles. Some doubles can have low fertility as well as poor pollen production, this I put down to line breeding.
Colour is more difficult to predict, especially when the parent colours are very different. Spotting is said to be dominant but again it depends upon the parents used.
My suggestion is that you make both crosses and see what the outcome is, that is the excitement of creating your own crosses as you will end up with plants that are unique to you. Reverse crosses are also a way of understanding the dominant genes of the parents.
You should get up to 30 seeds per cross, if you have space than you can grow on all seedlings to flowering, this will give you the ultimate indication of which of the parents is the dominate parent, I have never had the space to do this. I select seedlings that show early vigour and only grow these on to flowering.
Be warned 'breeding' hellebores can become an addictive past time, it has taken me nearly 3+ decades to kick the habit. Good luck, I am sure that you will find the process both rewarding and frustrating.
|
Recent Posts