Finding this hard to believe, Daubenton flowering

[bunkie]

fascinating graham!

i was looking at tree collards this year, but i didn't think they'd overwinter here. telsing, how cold does it get where you're at?

[ottawagardener]

We're US zone 4 here. So a bit colder than you but we generally have good snow cover.

[bunkie]

thanks tesling! we're 5b, so they should work here.

are there different varieties that take cold better than others? i was looking at them in Bountiful Gardens, that's where they said they don't overwinter in cold?!

[ottawagardener]

Maybe their's don't? I find that with brassicas sometimes only the tops or bottoms of the plant survive. The one that is flourishing in my garden (besides kale) is the walking kale. I erected a shelter of branches to prevent squashing this year which might have helped. This is generally vegetatively propogated. Hopefully our friend gets some seeds though

Then again, I have cabbage, leaf broccoli and some other varieties of *tender* brassica that at least make it to the flowering/seed stage though maybe not as pretty as others.

I got a variety of Walking Stick Kale from JD Hudson?? and it didn't overwinter but then it might have been eaten by rabbits... I found their calling cards near my brassicas that were sticking up over the snow line.

[ottawagardener]

AWESOME: www.bountifulgardens.org/products.asp?dept=141

This sounds a bit different from mine in that it has one stalk. The three I was sent are more bushy than tree like.

Anyone know the difference?

[bunkie]

righto, that's the one i was looking at telsing...

note that they can only be started from cuttings, not seeds?!

[ottawagardener]

I saw that and it is the same in principle with walking kale.

[mybighair]

Just time for another quick update.

The Daubenton plant is flowering well now and may even make some OP seed. If it dose it will be a mixed bunch of seedlings with sprouts, rutabaga, kale and cabbage plants flowering near by.




There look to be three style swelling after pollination with my F1 pollen. As you can see from the pic below its to early to claim success, but it is encouraging.




I also appear to have one style swelling from the tree collard pollen.




I've also made reciprocal crossed to my F1's and the tree collard with Daubenton pollen so it's fertility will be known fairly soon.
And as the following pictures illustrate, there is ample Daubenton pollen for freezing.

Freshly harvested anthers.




The same anthers after an hour drying in a warm greenhouse with the top off the canister.




And the pollen released after a good shake with the top on.




I've also been lucky enough to source some red kale about to flower on some other plots, and the plot holders have given me permission to harvest the pollen, so a red leaved Daubenton could be on the cards.

Just hope my luck holds out.

[ottawagardener]

First off, great pictures. Second, I'm there crossing my fingers with you. A red leafed Daubenton hey...

[raymondo]

Very exciting. Fingers crossed.

[mybighair]

I hope you're all well and I'm sorry I've been absent lately. Life's been a bit consuming but in the best way (lots of rose breeding work, my wife graduating, family birthdays, weddings, and a new baby on the way).

Anyhow, as the results of the pollinations are in I figured it was time for an update, and as you'll see from the photos bellow the crosses did result in seed:


First, a shot of the ripe seed pods.




Then a shot of the seed from the Daubenton/Tree Collard cross.



All the crosses produced roughly the same quantity of seed so I didn't photograph the seed from the other crosses.


I sowed the seed from two pods of each cross before they had dried fully and had good germination so I also have a preview of the seedlings to come.


Daubenton X Tree Collard



I got one seedling from the Tree Collard cross that was quite a dark red on germination, darker than the crosses to red kale as it happened, so I separated it from its siblings.



It is actually quite a bit darker than it looks in the photo, and though it's developing much more slowly than its siblings I have high hopes for this one.


As both parents are perennial I'm hoping these seedlings will be perennial. But as the genetics of perenniality in brassica's are largely unresearched I cant be sure. This cross should actually shed some light on things and tell me if the mechanism for perenniality is the same in both strains.


The next shot is Daubenton X (Black Tuscany X Varigated Collards).



You can see the influence of Black Tuscany in the leaves of these seedlings despite the fact they are only 1/4 Black Tuscany.


And finally the Daubenton X Red Kale seedlings.



As you can see they aren't looking very red at the moment. They looked quite red when they first emerged but soon turned green. I'm hoping they will colour up as they mature, but for now I'll have to be happy with them showing signs of the curled leaves of the red parent.


I'll try to keep you better updated on things from here on but please forgive me if I do disappear again, life hasn't really calmed down yet.

[cortona]

compliments from italy, realy proud that tuscan black kale are part of your breeding work, happy that the cross produce viable seeds and finger crossed for all the possible result!

[mnjrutherford]

Your progress is looking beautiful. Congratulations on all the happy busyness!

[bunkie]

great pics graham! i'm anxious to see how that single dark red sibling works out.

[raymondo]

Well done and great pics. And congrats on the new baby. Fertility everywhere!