Toward fertile 7O-O

The first of the non-viridiflorus fertile jonquil hybrids have started flowering here. They seem to respond to the milder conditions and extra water at the house and are ahead of the very early big main division flowers, which are only just starting to open.

10_10MJ is supposedly tetraploid jonquilla x (Onibi x Patabundy) – all of which flower quite late, but there does seem to be early flowering genetics in the jonquilla. It has plenty of faults but it intensifies in color as it ages.

10_10MJ 13a10_10MJa

10_14MJ is just opening. This photo is from 2010. It is Rheban Red or Cowboy x jonquilla. Why it is fertile and single headed is, to me, a mystery.

10_14MJ

The fernandesii hybrids have also started. These aren’t fully fertile but they do appear to have significant and useful fertility. 09_03MJ is fernandesii MS449 x Scarlet Chord. It too is not perfect but hopefully it can contribute some serious color genetics into fertile hybrids. Good, fully fertile, sunproof 7O-O’s do seem to be very achievable. (And with diploid 8O-O’s on the way, crosses between the two groups offer the possibility of 8O-O Falconet type hybrids.)

09_03MJ

On other subjects. The green tazettas have started. Some of these have been moved to the house in the hope of eliciting some fertility, however unlikely. They are 99_02WT x 01_01MJ (Westholme x viridiflorus). They do poorly here in the frost so it is hard to tell which ones have promise and which ones don’t.

13_01TX

N. pachybolbus comes up in discussion from time to time. The following are pictures from my very unhappy, very virused original. Although it seems obviously miniature in Canberra it certainly isn’t a miniature in favorable climates – not surprising given its huge bulb. I have grown a number of species paperwhites and none resemble it. One striking characteristic is its tendency to produce a cluster of forward facing florets.

PACHYBOLBUS 13BPACHYBOLBUS 13c

The pseudonarcissus have started. Of interest, I think, is the behaviour of N. cyclamineus. It grows in front of an east facing bank a metre or so high next to a dam.  They survive even in droughts that dry the dam completely. I think the heavy clay soil is the key. Surprising to me is the fact that the cyclamineus are naturalising up the the almost vertical face of the bank.

CYCLAMINEUS

4 comments for “Toward fertile 7O-O

  1. Lawrence why don’t you set seed on the N. pachybolbus and make some clean stock? I believe mine are self fertile.

    Harold

  2. Hi Harold,

    I think I do have clean stock (but its probably from seed produced in Western Australia). I don’t throw out as many things as I should and I guess I am a bit sentimental about this collection. I keep a collection of virused daffodils that I still have plans for so it sits with those.

  3. Hello Lawrence,

    Very nice form and excellent color on your 10 14MJ for a first generation jonquilla cross. The fact it is fertile is an additiona bonus. The single flower is a mystery. Some of the suprises we sometimes get hybridizing. The green tazetta was also very nice. We need a daffodil fix here, our fields are bare of daffodils. Thanks for posting.

    Larry

    Larry

  4. Lawrence, your photo of 10_14MJ from Rheban Red or Cowboy x jonquilla looks similar to the photo I took of Denise McQuarrie’s ‘Pinto Pony’ at Denise’s in NZ last year.  Look at the second photo on Daffnet. I love the orange cups on them.  Nice flowers!

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