New Moraea hybrids, 2018

It's now been about eight years since I started breeding Moraea hybrids in earnest. My records show about 80 new crosses bloomed this year, which doesn't sound like all that much. But there were multiple different individuals from many of those crosses, and new individuals continue to show up from previous years' crosses. So probably there were a couple hundred new flowers. Plus most of the previous years' hybrids rebloomed.

To give you an idea of what that looks like, here's a photo of the planting bed that contains 2013's hybrids, taken in late March 2018. I'm the confused guy looking for plant tags.

Photo credit: Garry Knipe

I'm sure I missed some of the new flowers this year. It's all getting a bit overwhelming, but in a fun way.


Contents of this year's summary:
--My favorite new hybrids of 2018
--Video tour
--What I think I'm learning
--My Moraea want list
--I'm happy to share Moraea seeds


New hybrids

Below are the year's highlights. If you want to see all of this year's hybrids, use the links to the 2018 posts at right (note: the links are visible only in the desktop version of this website).


My favorite hybrid of the year. It's a hard decision, but I really liked this one for its combination of clear colors and wide tepals (even the inner tepals, usually very narrow, have some substance to them.

MM 15-80b (a cross involving Moraea neopavonia, atropunctata, and calcicola)

Getting closer to red. If you've been following these updates, you'll know I've been trying to breed a truly red Moraea. This year for the first time I got a few flowers that you could kind of say honestly sort of look red or have red areas. They're still a bit orange-red or pinky-red, but it's big progress.

MM 13-77b

MM 13-94c

Pretty pastels. I love the wide variety of tepal and eye color in these flowers. Most of them are either wholly M. villosa or have a lot of it in their parentage.

MM 13-07c

MM 13-18a

MM 13-41a 'Bonnie'

MM 13-43a

MM 13-28a

MM 13-134b

MM 14-122a

MM 14-146a

MM 14-177a

Spots, streaks, and smoke. I continue to be fascinated by the strange color patterns I'm getting from crossing various species. Often the new color patterns have little resemblance to either parent.

MM 12-12a

MM 13-14d

MM 13-80a

MM 13-89a

MM 13-116a

MM 13-149d

MM 14-83b

MM 14-86a

MM 14-146b

MM 14-146d

Unusual eyes. Usually the nectar guides, or "eyes," in the Peacock Moraea flowers are blue or green. Lately I've been getting a few flowers with yellow or pale-colored eyes. Some of the colors I have trouble even describing.

MM 12-160

MM 13-69a

MM 13-69f (photo by Garry Knipe)

MM 13-89d

MM 13-94d

MM 13-207a

MM 14-118a

MM 14-139b

MM 14-164a

MM 15-08a

MM 15-10a

Wild cards. Here are a couple of other unusual looking flowers.

MM 12-194d. M. lurida x tripetala.

MM 13-197d. Another hybrid involving M. lurida.

Moraea villosa form o. This one isn't a hybrid, it's a new (to me) color form of M. villosa, and wow is it spectacular (even when it's not speckled with raindrops). In addition to the bright magenta color, several features make this flower unusual: The "eye" is a semi-circular band rather than a spot, the central cup is pale cream rather than the usual bright orange or yellow, and the style crests have color in them rather than the typical pure white. In nature it grows near Piketberg, South Africa, at the northern edge of the range of the species. I'd love to know what pollinator drove that color scheme.

Video tour

When the Moraeas hit their peak bloom, I always find myself wishing I could invite a bunch of bulb lovers over to see them. The trouble is, it's hard to predict when peak bloom will be (it depends on the weather), and besides most of you don't live in San Jose. So here's the next best thing: A video tour of the growing beds on a sunny afternoon when it seemed like everything was in bloom:




What I'm Learning

Add M. unguiculata and M. tricuspidata to the list of probably-compatible species. I made some crosses with positively-identified M. tricuspidata for the first time this year, and many of them took. I'll have to wait for flowers to be sure, but it's probably interfertile with the other species I've been hybridizing.

Probably some forms of M. unguiculata also work. M. unguiculata is a very variable species. For several years I've had a very tiny form that hasn't worked as either a seed or pollen parent. This year I got the first flowers from a larger form found in the Koue Bokkeveld. This one did set a couple of pods when crossed, so I'm hopeful.


The jury is out on M. debilis and M. thomasiae. I've grown M. thomasiae for several years, and in the past I've thought it was compatible because its pollen appeared to set seeds when crossed onto some other species and hybrids. But the first of those crosses bloomed this year, and the flowers looked nothing like M. thomasiae. It's possible some other pollen got into that cross. Also, all of my crosses onto M. thomasiae failed this year, which is not a good sign. I will keep trying.

M. debilis is a different problem. It blooms very late, so I can't cross it onto most of the other flowers. But I did make a lot of crosses onto it with other species' pollen, and the crosses almost all set seeds. Then I noticed that almost all of the unpollinated flowers were also setting seeds. The plants are apparently self-fertile. So I'll have to wait and see how the seedlings look.

To add to the complications, M. debilis is very tiny, so small that you almost need a magnifying glass to work with the anthers. Emasculating the flowers to prevent self-pollination is almost impossible.


A chart of all the Moraea species I've crossed can be found here.


How to store pollen. The Moraea plants I'm hybridizing bloom at slightly different times. Peak bloom here in California is in late March, but some bloom as early as February, while others bloom as late as May. To cross the late ones with the early ones, I need to store pollen. For years I used the freezer for that, storing pollen in individual plastic film canisters and then in an insulated cooler. I took the cooler with me every time I wanted to pollinate. It helped protect the pollen from thawing and refreezing, and the canisters are waterproof, so moisture from the air could not get into them.

In 2017, the number of anthers I wanted to store exceeded my supply of film canisters, so I put the anthers in glassine envelopes instead, which were then stored in a small plastic box alongside a packet of dessicant, and then stored in the freezer. I was not happy with the results – the anthers became gummy quickly, and I had a low rate of success on my crosses. I think the anthers were absorbing a bit of water from the air each time they thawed and refroze. Since I pollinate on most evenings after work, there were a lot of freeze-and-thaw cycles.

Frustrated, this year I stored the glassine envelopes in the refrigerator instead of the freezer, figuring they might do better if they weren't ever frozen. The results were pleasing – the pollen looked fresher, and my success rate on crosses went up.

I believe the freezer would still be the best bet for year-long storage of pollen. Year-old pollen stored that way has sometimes worked for me.


My Moraea Wish List

In addition to growing these hybrids, I'm also trying to maintain populations of Moraea species, to share with others and protect them from extinction in the wild. I have most of the species that are available commercially, but I'm still looking for some hard-to-find ones. You can see my wish-list here. If you have any suggestions on how to get seeds (or even pollen) of them legally, I'm all ears. I'd be glad to buy or trade.


Contact me if you want some free seeds

I don't dig a lot of corms, but I am very happy to share seeds from my Moraea species and hybrids, free of charge. Please contact me at the address here if you're interested.


Finally, I'd like to acknowledge the many people who generously shared plants and seeds with me to create this collection. They include Paul F. X. Von Stein, Rod and Rachel Saunders, Garry Knipe, Jim Duggan, Gordon Summerfield, Cameron and Rhoda McMaster, and the members of the Pacific Bulb Society, International Bulb Society, and the Indigenous Bulb Growers of South Africa. Plus most of all the Moraea King, Bob Werra. Thanks everybody!