Gladiolus MM 11-05

Seed parent: Gladiolus 00-00c (Gladiolus gracilis v. gracilis X priorii)
Pollen parent: Gladiolus 00-00a (Gladiolus gracilis v. gracilis X priorii)

Every book that I've read about flower breeding says that it's important to make F2 hybrids. If you don't know what an F2 is, it's a second generation cross. The first generation is F1. If you breed together the offspring of that cross, you get F2 plants.

F1 crosses of two plant species are relatively predictable: They usually look like a mix of the two species, roughly halfway between. And all of the offspring from that cross look pretty much the same.

But cross those F1s together, and all sorts of recessive genes get paired up and reveal themselves. The F2s are much more diverse than the F1 hybrids. At least, that's the story. In my case, it seems to be hit or miss.

The grandparents of this particular F2 cross are Gladiolus priorii (a tomato-red flower that blooms around Christmas time in San Jose, CA), and Gladiolus gracilis, a pale ice-blue flower with prominent dark blue lines in the throat. It blooms in early Spring.

The results of that cross, MM 00-00, are magenta-colored (halfway between blue and red), and have dark lines in the throat. My favorites have a mottled look to the tepals that reminds me of a watercolor painting.

I thought the F2 hybrids would come in a wide range of colors, blue and magenta and red. But so far most of them are magenta, and are not a big improvement over the F1 parents. Here, judge for yourself:

Gladiolus MM 11-05a. This one is a dusky purple color with nice dark markings and a bit of yellow.

Gladiolus MM 11-05b. Plain magenta with a bit of yellow. An interesting cross, but not all that exciting to me. In Japan, where many breeders seem to favor flowers without spots, this one might be a winner.

Gladiolus MM 11-05c. This one I really like. It's a bright pure magenta that doesn't photograph well, unfortunately (the photographs look much more pinky and washed out than the real thing). I'm very happy with this plant.

Gladiolus MM 11-05d. Kind of a dusky magenta color, and the flowers are narrower than I'd like.