Bell-Shaped Happiness
I've been getting my re-specialization in Clinical psychology lately; therefore, my blog had been abandoned. Blog, but not the plants! This spring the crossing results pleased me like maybe never before. Plus I have become somewhat wiser with the plants: giving them more time, more chances to show their full potential. I even gave a second chance to the last year seedlings -- with rewarding results. So let me start with them.
A little, slow-developing, seedling with fig-like leaves that changed its color from cream to white with pink veins totally won my (and not only my) heart. See for yourselves. The plant is compact, awesome, non-problematic, loves the sun rays. I called it 'Vesta'.
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| abutilon 'Vesta' |
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| abutilon 'Vesta' |
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| abutilon 'Vesta' |
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| abutilon 'Vesta' |
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| abutilon 'Vesta' |
One of its cousins, that I was about to sell off, suddenly impressed me with its huge and painted blooms. Well, let me correct myself: it didn't impress me as much as it impressed my virtual epistolary friend and fellow breeder from France Pierre Rutten. It was he who convinced me to keep the plant. My, my, I must've been blind, but I love it now. It grows in moderation (being F2 to 'Tiger's Eye'), and the blooms are up to 10 cm in diameter. Branching is good, too. I call it 'Pierre' now. The plant is a real macho: it has already fathered many seeds -- and more to come.
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| abutilon 'Pierre' |
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| abutilon 'Pierre' |
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| abutilon 'Pierre' |
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| abutilon 'Pierre' |
And here comes my # 1 favorite: this year seedling AS 8-1/16 which I showed in the previous post. Its petals have a somewhat porcelain quality with something like an abutilon mosaic virus that makes petals' color uneven. The center is creamy-yellowish-white. Leaves are small; branching habit is good. It grows a bit too slowly (which drives me a bit nuts), but otherwise I think that this plant is a success. I called it 'Raduga' ('Rainbow').
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| abutilon 'Raduga' |
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| abutilon 'Raduga' |
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| abutilon 'Raduga' |
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| abutilon 'Raduga' |
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| abutilon 'Raduga' |
After that, really nice things started happening. Some "children" of abutilon 'Fairy Coral Red' demonstrated excellent habits. Here is one of them. Other pictures of the similar plants will be posted soon. Frankly speaking, I admire the 'Lucky Lantern' and 'Patio Lantern' abutilon series, and would like to breed something similar. So far, I wasn't even close. But these latest seedlings give me hope. I already collected seeds from them -- let's see which qualities will be transferred to the next generations!
