Moraea MM 13-86

Seed parent: MM 11-135a ((atropunctata x neopavonia) X (atropunctata x calcicola))
Pollen parent: MM 11-135b ((atropunctata x neopavonia) X (atropunctata x calcicola))

The parents:

MM 13-86a. It's often hard to get Moraea hybrid siblings to cross, but in this case it worked. I was hoping we'd see some recessive genes in their offspring, but these two plain-looking pale orange flowers produced a plain-looking bright orange flower.

MM 13-86b. Paler than its sibling. It's an interesting peach color.

Moraea MM 13-81

Seed parent: MM 09-02c (aristata X villosa)
Pollen parent: Moraea atropunctata

The parents:

The seed parent is a vigorous villosa-like flower that doesn't fade in the sun. In this cross I was hoping to mix that vigor with the spots of M. atropunctata. Although the hybrids have a few spots, they mostly look like M. villosa with a dark center, with one exceptional surprise that you'll see below. (The flowers below, are all from this cross, were grown by Garry Knipe under the label GK 1329.)

GK 1329

GK 1329_1. Similar to the flower above, but with a few spots.

GK 1329_3. Wow. This flower is just spectacular. I have no idea where this color scheme and the unusual double line around the eye came from.

Garry gave me an offset of that corm, and I've been trying to use it in crosses. So for nothing has worked, so I am also repeating the original cross.

Here are some seedlings from that cross that I grew:

MM 13-81a. I'm not sure about this cross – it doesn't appear to have any M. atropunctata characteristics at all. I do like the thick yellow band around the eye, though.

MM 13-81b

MM 13-81c

Moraea MM 13-79

Seed parent: MM 10-19 (flaccida X collina)
Pollen parent: MM 10-19 (flaccida X collina)

The parents:

This is an F2 hybrid from a Homeria cross that's almost completely sterile. It refused to set any seeds for a couple of years, but then I noticed a small questionable pod on one of the plants. It had a few seeds in it. I planted them, and they sprouted. I was excited because supposedly F2 hybrids show off those obscure recessive genes. Then one bloomed...

 MM 13-79a. Yeah, it looks almost exactly like the parents! Oh well.

Moraea MM 13-25

Seed parent: Moraea villosa form F
Pollen parent: Moraea tulbaghensis with blue eye

The parents:

GK 1321. This cross was raised by Garry Knipe from seeds I shared with him. Some of his seedlings are blooming a year earlier than mine; he is an excellent gardener. This flower was just opening when I visited Garry's place. As you can see, the eye is green.

Here's another selection:

Here are a couple that I grew:

MM 13-25b. Nice colors. It's too bad the flower is cupped (a typical problem with tulbaghensis hybrids).

I haven't given a letter to this one. It looks very much like Garry's plants.

Moraea MM 12-186

Seed parent: MM 09-04a
Pollen parent: Moraea atropunctata

The parents:

MM 12-186a. The seed parent was bright yellow, so I was hoping for a yellow version of M. atropunctata. Instead, the flowers are pale orange. I am not sure what's going on here. The genetics of yellow vs. orange color in Moraeas appear to be complicated.

You get day and night shots here. The night shots tend to wash out the orange color. The daytime photo is more true to life.

I do like the corkscrew effect in the inner tepals (the thin petals between the main ones).

MM 12-186b. This one is cream-colored instead of yellow, but at least it has some spots.

Moraea MM 12-166

Seed parent: Moraea 'Zoe'
Pollen parent: Moraea villosa form a+

The parents:

MM 12-166a.I know Zoe and its striped tepals are in there somewhere, but the M. villosa look dominates this cross. (Hints of Zoe: The style crests are light purple instead of white, and maybe the white ring around the eye). I need to cross this with some other stuff to see if I can get the stripes to come out. Also, maybe we'll see some other colors in the other flowers from this cross.

Moraea bellendenii

A late-blooming plant (May in California) that's relatively tall and has smallish yellow flowers. This plant is closely related to M. tricuspidata, which looks similar but has white to cream flowers. There are reportedly hybrids in the wild, and I wonder if they got mixed in with my plants, because the flowers that came to me as M. bellendenii range from cream to pale yellow to bright yellow.

Here's one of the pale ones:

If you have any thoughts on the identity of this plant, please post a comment.

These plants interbreed readily with the Peacock Moraeas, which is exciting because they'll let me add yellow, late-blooming, and height to my hybrids. I am finding that crossing with this species also does very weird things to the eyes of the Peacocks, turning them into concentric rings or irregular blotches. M. bellendenii also may be able to cross with M. polystachya, something that the Peacocks won't do. Those apparent hybrids have yet to bloom as of 2019.