Hi Gail,
I don't expect the genetics would work. Of course you never know...
In a sense it is amazing that you can cross Iris
histrioides with Iris
reticulata (i.e. 2n=16 x 2n=20) and get progeny. Of course those children are sterile. e.g. Harmony, George, etc. [George is William van Eeden's hybrid named for Dr. George Rodionenko, which unfortunately fell out of favour due to not being a reliable bloomer when forced in pots -- which is about 70% of the market for Reticulatas]
You might think that because Iris
histrioides and Iris
winogradowii are both 2n=16 that there shouldn't be any problem, but the reality is their chromosomes are different enough that their children are sterile dead ends (i.e. Katharine Hodgkin, Frank Elder, Sheila Ann Germany). [Note: the reverse cross does Not work -- which tells you right away there's a genetic issue with those two species].
That's part of the reason why I've tried to convert some of my hybrids to tetraploid. Ideally if Katharine Hodgkin were tetraploid then the two
histrioides chromosomes could pair up, and the two
winogradowii chromosomes could pair up, and thus tetraploid Katharine Hodgkin should be fertile. There were problems in the lab converting one of my own hxw crosses. The lab did produce a tetraploid
winogradowii [hopefully is still in the Dutch bulb grower's small stocks], but lab delivered bulbs of
histrioides that are "4x 4C<8C." In other words, they are stable, but not true tetraploids. So in all likelihood polyploid
histrioides won't produce seed [3 flowers are currently opening]
I hope one day to get fertile hybrids between 2n=18 and 2n=20 Reticulata Iris, but time will tell. It is proving to be somewhat difficult to get good seed from the lab converted plants. And it's looking like where thought I have 3 tetraploid clones blooming for the first time, that 2 of this have aborted. Certainly the bulbs were very large
Here's another dark coloured hybrid: 05-HN-1 (diploid) The lab did deliver some tetraploid material to the Dutch bulb grower, but I haven't yet received any bulbs from him...
Tetraploid 19-DG-1 (currently in the process of opening for the first time) In a sense disappointing because it looks so similar to 05-GQ-4. Note: this hybrid has the more typical bristle for a standard.
This is a 2019 cross between lab converted:
Happiness (01-IV-1) Tetra x {
It's Magic (05-HW-1) Tetra &
05-GQ-1 }
One might guess that the successful pollen parent was 05-GQ-1, which is of course 05-GQ-4's sibling.
[I tend to use multiple pollen parents when I am particularly keen to get seeds]
