This is also a child of Exotica (Gervaise x Exotica). Flowers are rather small but I like the orange color.

This is the second seedling of H554 x Santiago flowering. It has only two flowers and is quite fragrant.

Oh, I love the H554 x Santiago cross!! And fragrant..it has it all!

Oh Anja, c’est tres magnifique! I am in love, really. The intensity of orange! Did you name it? If not yet... Orange Vanity? And this little flagrant beauty, I love the shape! It reminds me of the heilroom I used to grow as a child. I have a name for it, in case you need one

Thumbelina, like the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale

I love her brother (or sister?!) too!

I think Orange Little Sister is an appropriate name

Both names are perfect and what a nice homage to Hans Christian Andersen :-))))

Thank you Vlad! I will call her Däumelinchen which is the German name of Thumbelina. But then her sister (or brother?) needs a name too...

How about Flamboyant?

Well, I think that this flower is too quiet to be called Flamboyant. How about Spring dancer? Trumpets always remind me of dancers.

I like Spring Dancer!

I only had two seedlings from the Chico x Desire cross, this is the second. Very similar to the first. A large flower, larger than my hand.

Love it, I wonder if it can marry Chico

Very beautiful and a back cross to Chico sounds like it would produce exotic looking offspring.

This is really lovely, Jody! Beautiful shape and color. And of course it would be interesting to see what happens when you cross it with Chico...

I can't be for sure what cultivars/varieties/species were used for this original cross because I got the original bulbs off a clearance rack at Walmart 7-8 years ago. However, I think the packaging was from South Africa, so they are likely a part of the Sonatini Series. In general the bulbs reach 2-2.5" diameter and bloom on the 3rd year from seed. I have several generations of seedlings now, since I started crossing the first year I had them. Here is one of the more unique blooms:

Below is my current 1 year old seedlings beside some of the the parents breeding project:

That is stunning Will!! Love the striping and white star!

I will try to breed the Chico x Desire cross back to Chico. Let's hope that it takes ! This has been a strange year for blooms. They usually all bloom close together, but not this year. How about everyone else?

Same here, very weird. I have blooms already in November, while some are just showing up their scapes now

Will,

Your garden looks like a wonderland in the sunshine :-)))) Thanks for posting a such a beautiful picture :-))))

Well, it's a sunny, warm and beautiful day in Cambridge and this beauty just fully opened today.

Green & Saturn

This is really gorgeous, Fred! Who are the parents?

Green & Saturn is gorgeous! What crosses will you be trying with this one?

I think this is a Japanese hybrid

It's a Komoriya hybrid and I don't know it's parents but I suspect Aulicum and either Yungacense or Mandonii. It was very graciously gifted to me a few years back and this is her second flowering. I don't know what to cross with it? Most of my crossing attempts this year fizzled out :-((( with the exception of Terra Cotta Star x self and Flamenco Queen x H1807 that I literally just harvested. Any suggestions would be wonderfully appreciated.

Santiago, Exotic Star, Chico and Spotlight

I have Exotic Star, Chico, Evergreen, Papilio and I suppose I could self it but with only two blooms to work with, it's gonna be a tough choice. Thank you for the suggestion :-)))))

:p Chico and Exotic Star for me

Well then, I'll take Chico and Exotic Star out of the freezer and get pollinating tomorrow :-))))

When there is a choice, I always vote for H papilio! I recently had a La Paz in bloom and used "fridge pollen 1" and "fridge pollen 2" to try to get a nice cross. One is papilio pollen, the other is Evergreen. I didn't mark them, so I don't know which is which! It is too early to tell if either of the "fridge" pollens were successful!

I just looked in the fridge and realized that I don't have any more Chico or Exotic Star but I do have papilio and Evergreen, so I think I'll try them instead.

Evergreen might boost the flower count! H papilio seems to always create beautiful children. Both options would be great!

H. papilio for me!

Booth options sound good, Fred! I cross my fingers...

Do you guys have success using Exotic Star as the seed parent? I have used it as the pollen parent and made a few successful crosses. As the seed parent, most of the pods have aborted. The few that have taken for me only produced a couple viable seeds.

Yes, as a seed parent I have experiemced it the same: only a few viable seeds, if any at all

Will, looked at your garden pictures again, such a paradise. Please keep them coming

Giraffe x Neon

Such a lovely shape!

Gorgeous! I love the frilly edges. I definitely wouldn't have guessed the parents on this one!

Thanks, this one surprised me too! I wondered if it would get a brighter color in subsequent flowering as this was a maiden bloom, but then I noticed that the second flower started out green turning fully white in about 3 days. So it should be interesting to see what happens in later flowering - I hope it keeps the intense frills!!

Once I catch up with all the gardening, I should have some seeds from crosses I made this year to share, I will let you know what they are.

Very nice! I guess it would be more colorful with cooler temperatures but I like the white a lot. Congratulations!

Anja, I also wonder if the color will be different on the second blooming. Also, it has been incredibly hot here and I wondered if that had anything to do with the color. This will be interesting to watch as it starts out green (now I'm sorry I didn't take a picture), and changes from green to white over a couple of days. Well as long as it keeps it's frills, I will be happy!!!!

Well Jody, I get the most intense colors on my flowers in spring when I put the bulb outside so that they can enjoy bright sunlight and cool night temperatures. Please keep us posted about next years flowering of that little treasure. Fingers crossed for the frills...

Hello everyone,

I present you Exotica x Gevarse, barely 2 years old

Truly beautiful color!!! Jody

Wonderful coral. :)

Beautiful! How did you get it to bloom so early?

Well, it always depends on both parents and the growing conditions. I let my seedlings simply be: if they go dormant in their 2nd winter, fine, if they do not, I continue to fertilize them at every watering. Sometimes it takes as less as 21 months, sometimes more than 40.

Beautiful, Vlad!! Do you have any siblings of this beauty? I have three bulbs from the same parents but the reverse crossing and they all look different!...

Thank you Anja. I have only this one bulb, but it has some offsets already. I think we can cross it with your creations, what do you say?