Viridiflorus line seedlings

I  received  from  John  Hunter  a  few  years  back ,  a  small  bulb  from  one  of  the  many  crosses  he  had  done  using  pollen from  N. viridiflorus.  The  best  known  of  these  is  the  beautiful  ‘EMERALD  SEA’ which  has  been  a  very  useful parent  for  many . The fertility  of  E.  S.   has  opened  up  the  breeding  of  many  mixed jonquilla  and  tazetta  hybrids  but  often  the  problem  has  been  in  continuing  this  fertility  into  the  next  generations. The  cross  that  John  sent  me  was    CERES  –  x  –  viridiflorus.

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Green cast and drooping buds

Green cast and drooping buds

Ceres - x - viridiflorus

Ceres – x – viridiflorus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  flowers  in  shape  are  not  dissimilar  to  E S ;  however  they  are  not  as  multi headed  and  certainly  not  as  clean  a  white  colour. There  was  a  dozen  stems  flowering ;  –  only  one  was  a  double  header.  They all  had  there  heads  well  down  and  had  a  distinct  green  cast  before opening. John  suggested  that  they  may  be  fertile  and  in  2010.  I  crossed  a  flower  with  a  very  early  ( but  rather  rough)   redcup  seedling. The  seedlings  were  a  little  neglected  in  the  years  in  a  poly  tray  but  recently  I  noticed  a  few  buds and  now  have  three  seedlings  flowering  .

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The  yellow  was  the  first  and  is  clearly  the  best,  the  other  two  buds  had  a  green  cast  at  opening  and  are  a  muddy  off – white.

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2 comments for “Viridiflorus line seedlings

  1. John,
    Take these as a step forward in your breeding programme. Remember that, as a cut flower grower, viridiflorus is giving amazing vase life and this could be a real advantage for you in NZ.

    Dave

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