Joint Venture

Amethyst-violet standards, greyed-yellow falls flushed reddish-grey. A near-black underlay surrounds a near-black beard, blending into the rest of the fall. A quarterbred from a sib to Lovely Blanche X Edith Seligmann.

For Show aficionados, the ASI code is OGB-.

Kiss of Honey

A soft honey-yellow near-self. The standards are marked only by a slight flush of violet at the base. The falls have delicate violet dotting and veining in the throat and in a V-shaped area around the mustard beard.

A classic quarterbred, from Altogether Lovely X Persian Smoke.

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB-.

Land of Enchantment

Lilac standards; chrome-yellow falls heavily brushed with oxblood to give a dark adobe brick effect. Signal area heavily dotted and veined in burgundy. A fully fertile halfbred from Thunderstorm X Shades of Sunset.

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Magnificent Obsession

Pearl-grey standards. Apricot-buff falls are lightly washed with plum-red and accented with a large oxblood-red signal. Sostenique X Tribe of Judah. I haven't tested this for fertility, but intend to try it with Joint Venture in hopes of getting quarterbreds with even more of the "aril look" and with tetraploid arils in hopes of getting functional halfbreds that will inject new genes in the arilbred pool. This is an excellent garden subject and show flower, but as a breeder it's strictly for experimenters. The goal of putting prominent signals on quarterbreds has been an elusive one, a long – and often frustrating – quest. Because the objective had become somewhat of an obsession, and the ultimate success was so welcome, the title of the old movie seemed fitting.

Maxine Perkins

Bi-color "pseudo-plicata" with classic aril form, from Boaz X Jean Ralls. The standards have a white ground, with a reddish-violet midrib and ½" of veining around the rim. The falls have a soft ivory-yellow ground with intense reddish-violet dotting around the mustard-and-maroon beard, and reddish-violet veining on the inner half and ½" around the rim. Golden yellow style arms give it a "Heart of Gold".

I've crossed it with others that show or carry the pseudo-plicata pattern, as well as ½-breds with intense veining, but it's too soon to assess its offspring. Named for Region 23's then-RVP.

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Mesilla Morn

MESILLA MORN (McAllister, 1992)

A brick red near-self, with falls only slightly darker than the standards. About as sunfast as reds get here in southern New Mexico. This is a fully fertile halfbred from Story Theme X Special Guest (which was Fourteen for Rachel X Jean Ralls).  A very strong-grower that produces  high percentage of strong-growing seedlings. I expect it to be useful for breeding toward more sunfast reds from the brown side and would not be surprised to get some interesting jewel tones from it, like those that appeared in some of its sibs. Gus and Lil called this one "Brick Oven" because of its color, but I chose "Mesilla Morn" because the color is also that of sunrise over the Organ Mountains and I thought it a prettier phrase.  For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB.

Mohric Butterfly

Pale blue-violet standards have faint blue-violet veining. Greenish-buff falls are veined burgundy to rust, with an area of intense burgundy dotting around the golden-brown beard.

This recent introduction, from Mohric Art X Boaz, is one of those still-rare quarterbreds that exhibit more aril characteristics than do more conventional ones. To the casual observer, it may even be mistaken for a halfbred - to the hybridizer, however, it clearly does not breed like one.  It's the end result of a series of crosses between relatively infertile 1/4-breds and conventional 1/2-breds, a type of cross is one of the most interesting in the arilbred world, because it can produce fully fertile halfbreds or relatively infertile quarterbreds. I coined the name to depict both the much-loved pattern of Butterfly Wings and the Mohr family.  For the show aficionado, its ASI code is OGB-.

Moonlight Madness

My favorite of the "ghostly" series  – but it has been steadfastly uninterested in parenthood. Lustrous dark beauty, blue-violet, red-violet, brown-violet by day – by moonlight, however, it has an eye-catching, glows-in-the-dark quality.  Strange things sometimes happen in experimental crosses. The pod parent was Sal-Leo-Five, a halfbred that usually lets aril characteristics of its mate come through in the offspring. The pollen parent was Rebekah's Veil, a tetraploid 3/4-bred that shows very few aril traits. Moonlight Madness is almost as dark as its grandparent,  Persian Pansy.  The name refers not just to its appearance, but also to my habit of trying to get in "just one more cross" before it's too dark to see what I'm doing!

For show aficionados, its ASI code is OGB+.

My Etchings

Clear white standards are intricately etched with intricate reddish-violet veining around the edges, while the soft yellow falls are covered with a network of fine red-violet veins. Small area of delicate red-violet dotting at the tip of the beard.

The name?  As in "come up and see...." 

A fully fertile halfbred from Boaz X Jean Ralls. 

For show aficionados, its ASI Code is OGB.