Moraea MM 2023a

Seed parent: Unknown

Pollen parent: Unknown

This plant appeared in a batch of seedlings that were supposed to be M. caeca. That's not what this flower is, sadly. It looks like a selection of M. villosa. The ranges of villosa and caeca do overlap, so maybe someone harvested the wrong pod, or maybe a seed from one of my plants fell into the part of the bed where I have the caeca corms.

Most of the supposed caeca plants have never bloomed, so the mystery continues.

Meanwhile, this is an interesting looking flower.

Moraea MM 20-367

Seed parent: MM 17-34a (M. tripetala x calcicola) X neopavonia

Pollen parent: MM 17-63b (atropunctata X (atropunctata x calcicola))

Moraea MM 20-356

Seed parent: MM 17-17a (M. aristata x villosa a) X (unknown)

Pollen parent: MM 14-216a ((aristata x calcicola) x villosa) X (villosa x tulbaghensis)

Both parents have streaks on the tepals, so I was hoping for streaky offspring. Hmmmm...

Maybe a couple of streaks.

I got to this one very late.

Moraea MM 20-352

Seed parent: MM 17-07 (M. gigandra x loubseri) X ((aristata x calcicola) x tulbaghensis)

Pollen parent: MM 13-10a (aristata x villosa) X neopavonia 'Sunrise'

I crossed an orange flower with a pinky orange flower and got a white flower. Go figure.

Moraea MM 20-322

Seed parent: MM 14-09c (M. 'Zoe' offspring X ((atropunctata x calcicola) x (atropunctata x neopavonia)))

Pollen parent: MM 17-10a (tripetala x calcicola) X (M. 'Zoe' x atropunctata)

Two heavily spotted parents don't always produce a heavily spotted offspring...

Moraea MM 20-296

Seed parent: MM 13-12a ((M. atropunctata x neopavonia) x gigandra) X calcicola

Pollen parent: MM 15-63 (bellendenii X neopavonia 'Summerfield')

Moraea MM 20-264

Seed parent: MM 16-85a (M. aristata x gigandra) X (villosa a x tulbaghensis)

Pollen parent: MM 12-67f (villosa b X villosa D)

Moraea MM 20-228

Seed parent: MM 13-94d (M. tulbaghensis X villosa h)

Pollen parent: MM 13-07a (villosa a+ X villosa d)

The colors are not spectacular, but check out the crazy long tips on the inner tepals and the wacky long horns on the style crests.

Moraea MM 20-219

Seed parent: MM 17-88a (M. 'Zoe' X neopavonia)

Pollen parent: MM 15-45 (M. 'Zoe' X neopavonia 'Summerfield')

With all those Zoe genes, we ought to eventually get a lot of spots in these offspring. Not in the first flower, but let's see what happens next time.

I like the pinky color and very wide inner tepals in this begraggled flower.

Moraea MM 20-206

Seed parent: MM 17-88c (M. 'Zoe' X neopavonia)

Pollen parent: MM 17-88a (M. 'Zoe' X neopavonia)

In theory, both parents have a recessive gene for spots courtesy of 'Zoe.' So there's a good chance I'll eventually get an orange flower with spots if I raise enough of them.

So far, no success. But stay tuned; several different seeds from this cross germinated.

Moraea MM 20-201

Seed parent: MM 12-144c (M. gigandra X neopavonia)

Pollen parent: MM 12-67f (villosa b X villosa d)

The parents are two awesome hybrids, and they're both in the orange-red color range. So I was hoping for offspring that are red, if not least spectacular. So far they're nice but not red and not spectacular.

Moraea MM 20-93

Seed parent: MM 13-13 ((atropunctata x neopavonia) x gigandra) X villosa h

Pollen parent: MM 15-80a (atropunctata x calcicola) X neopavonia 'Summerfield'

Moraea MM 20-91

Seed parent: MM 15-75d (M. aristata X ((aristata x calcicola) x (atropunctata x neopavonia))

Pollen parent: MM 17-10a (tripetala x calcicola) X (M. 'Zoe' x atropunctata)

Wow, I don't know what to think of this flower. It doesn't look anything like either parent. I wonder if an errant seed may have floated over from a nearby cross.

Moraea MM 20-81

Seed parent: MM 17-10a (M. tripetala x calcicola) X (M. 'Zoe' x atropunctata)

Pollen parent: MM 15-89b (villosa x tulbaghensis) X villosa a+

Cool! I crossed two spotted flowers and got a nicely spotted flower. I love it when a plan comes together.

Moraea MM 20-57

Seed parent: MM 17-10a (M. tripetala x calcicola) X (M. 'Zoe' x atropunctata)

Pollen parent: MM 17-63c (M. atropunctata x (atropunctata x calcicola))

Moraea MM 20-37

Seed parent: MM 17-10a (M. tripetala x calcicola) X (M. 'Zoe' x atropunctata)

Pollen parent: M. neopavonia

Moraea MM 20-26

Seed parent: MM 17-26 (M. lurida x villosa h) X (lurida x (aristata x villosa))

Pollen parent: MM 17-117a (lurida x (aristata x villosa)) X neopavonia 'Summerfield'

The inner tepals are extremely dark in this hybrid, almost velvet black.

Moraea MM 20-24

Seed parent: MM 17-58a (M. lurida X (bellendenii x (aristata x villosa)))

Pollen parent: MM 17-19 (M. lurida x (aristata x villosa)) X (tripetala x villosa d)

 Okay, so I crossed two lurida hybrids and got a flower that looks like a lurida hybrid.

Moraea MM 20-23

Seed parent: MM 17-58a (M. bellendenii x aristata) X (atropunctata x neopavonia) x villosa d

Pollen parent: MM 13-13c ((atropunctata x neopavonia) x gigandra) X villosa h

Moraea MM 20-13

Seed parent: MM 17-19 (M. lurida x (aristata x villosa)) X (tripetala x villosa d)

Pollen parent: MM 13-45a (atropunctata x calcicola) X villosa d

This cross paired a lurida hybrid with a very pretty bright pink villosa-type hybrid. The pinkness showed up a little in this flower, but not a lot.

Moraea MM 20-09

Seed parent: MM 17-19 (M. lurida x (aristata x villosa)) X (tripetala x villosa d)

Pollen parent: MM 17-53b (neopavonia x tulbaghensis)

Huh. I crossed a lurida hybrid with a bright orange flower, hoping for something orange with complex markings. I didn't get that at all. That is peculiar, since usually orange dominates in any cross I do with it.

Moraea MM 19-151

Seed parent: MM 13-69f (M. tubaghensis X villosa h)

Pollen parent: GK 1699 MX_23 parents unknown

Moraea MM 19-146

Seed parent: Moraea villosa o

Pollen parent: MM 14-146a (villosa x tulbaghensis) X villosa d

MM 19-146a

MM 19-146b

I love the watercolor blue and purple shading in the eye of this flower.

Moraea MM 19-120

Seed parent: MM 16-85a (aristata x gigandra) X (villosa a x tulbaghensis)

Pollen parent: MM 13-77b (villosa x tulbaghensis) X (villosa x tulbaghensis)

MM 19-120a

A family portrait:

Moraea GK 1515

Seed parent: MM 09-02b (M. aristata x villosa)

Pollen parent: MM 11-19b (aristata x villosa)

This is one of the most remarkable Moraea hybrids I've seen yet. I'm trying to re-create this cross to see if I can make this color pattern happen again.

GK 1515_1

GK 1515_2. The sibling is not quite as striking, but still ethereal.

Moraea MM 19-107

Seed parent: MM 15-106c ((atropunctata x calcicola) x gigandra) X (villosa x tulbaghensis)

Pollen parent: GK 1515_1 (aristata x villosa) X (aristata x villosa a)

MM 19-107a. I love the jagged edges around the eye, but they are not as spectacular as the pollen parent.

For a sibling of this cross, see GK 1971.

MM 19-105

Seed parent: MM 14-146a (M. villosa x tulbaghensis) X villosa d

Pollen parent: MM 13-77b (M. villosa x tulbaghensis) X (villosa x tulbaghensis)

MM 19-105

Siblings:

Moraea MM 19-92

Seed parent: MM 15-45 (M. 'Zoe' X neopavonia 'Summerfield')

Pollen parent: MM 13-89d (villosa x tulbaghensis) X villosa d

Wow! The colors are very vivid in this one, and there are some speckles around the eye. I need to do some breeding with it.

Moraea MM 19-91

Seed parent: MM 16-40 (M. gigandra X neopavonia 'Summerfield')

Pollen parent: GK 1610a (M. villosa b X villosa d)

The parents are both very nice flowers, but their child is kind of blah.

Moraea MM 19-88

Seed parent: MM 12-158b (M. bellendenii X (atropunctata x neopavonia))

Pollen parent: Moraea villosa d

I crossed a mauve flower and a yellow one hoping for red. Nothing doing.

Moraea MM 19-87

Seed parent: MM 12-158b (M. bellendenii X (atropunctata x neopavonia)

Pollen parent: MM 15-45b (M. 'Zoe' X neopavonia 'Summerfield')

Photos don't show you the most important thing about these flowers: The yellow color doesn't fade in the sun. I've had a few fade-resistant yellows, but they are usually very small and have almost no eye. These are larger and have quite a bit more blue in a weird inkblot eye. I'm hopeful that with further breeding I can get some bright yellow flowers with contrasting eyes, and none of the colors will fade over time.

MM 19-87a

MM 19-87b

A sibling. Interesting dot pattern around the eye.