Topic: First pea flowers!

[Silverleaf]

Tachyon has 5 genes that mess around with the normal foliage structure.

af converts leaflets to tendrils.
apu converts pulvini (thickened sections at bottom of the leaf stem) into petiolules (leaf stems). I think this has the effect of basically lengthening the leaf stem, I'm certainly seeing long petiolules with Tachyon.
sil makes leaflets and stipules (the leaves directly attached to the main stem, where the axial colour is) sinuate, i.e. have wavy edges.
uni-tac increases the number of leaflets and tendrils.
tl converts tendrils to leaflets.

All are recessive. Now I don't begin to understand exactly how all these genes work together, but I suspect that the Tachyon plant I have with fewer bigger leaves is missing uni-tac.

I can't decide yet whether I like the effect of these mutations or am weirded out by them. Tachyon's definitely different, and it's looking like I'll have a pink-flowered one as well as a white-flowered one.

One good thing about it - there's almost no slug damage at all. The plants seem very firm with no soft leaves, and I guess the other peas around them are much easier for slimy gits to munch on.

[Silverleaf]

A few more pics from today.


The larger-leafed Tachyon.


Smaller-leafed Tachyon. Millions of tiny leaves and a lot of pink in the foliage (the other small-leaved plant has no pink). I can't wait for the flowers to open!


Won't have to wait long. Pink Tachyon is almost ready to show off its flower colour...

[Silverleaf]

This crossed Golden Sweet pod is looking gorgeous. My first attempt at crossing! The orange yarn tells me the father is Sugar Ann.


Excuse the lack of focus (iPad camera is hard to focus at times), but this is Purple Podded looking quite, er, purple-podded. ;)


The first Absolute Zero pod, which definitely looks a darker green than the Sugar Ann pods.


Tempest showing a flower that looks like it's going to be a standard wild type purple. It should have purple pods too. I like the purple veining in the leaf at the top of the picture.

[Silverleaf]

Is 'mother x father' the convention for describing a cross?

Just looked this up, and yeah, it should be written mother x father.

Not that it matters too much, but all the crosses I've listed here are the wrong way round! I'll do it correctly from now on.

[Silverleaf]

The flowers from the Tachyon plant with pink in the foliage is showing some pink in the flower. It's be a day or two before the colour shows fully, but the standard is definitely faintly pink right now. Awesome.

[Silverleaf]

Salmon Flowered peas are about to bloom. I was expecting them to get a bit taller, but I guess they are in a pot.


Pink Tachyon flowers are definitely looking like they'll be pink. I'll be interested to see if they are the same pink as Elisabeth, because that might give me clues to Elisabeth's genetics.


Also, here's a Specked Wood resting on a compost bag. Lots of them here (both Speckled Woods and compost bags. ;))

A couple more repeated crosses today. And as soon as the pink Tachyon flower is old enough to donate pollen I'm going to cross it with Elisabeth. Why? Because although I don't know for sure, I suspect Elisabeth's pink flowers are due to the b gene. I do know for sure that the pink-flowered Tachyon has b, so if they both have it we'll see pink flowers in the F1. If Elisabeth has something else, the F1 flowers will be wild-type purple.

I checked out the buds on the large-leaved Tachyon, and it seems that the keel petals don't fully fuse together. There's a gap in the top through which I could clearly see the style and stamens. I'm pretty sure this will affect the fertility so it may not set pods. Doesn't matter, as I was only intending to save seeds from the pink small-leaved plant anyway.

Three other experimental varieties have tiny buds now, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll be like. Haka's flowers should be bluish violet, Legacy's cerise, and Ra's pale rose pink.

[galina]

Very interesting - never seen a Speckled Wood.  Lovely picture.

3 different types of pink flowers.  Well that is something to look forward to 

What a neat way of providing the proof whether Elisabeth has 'b'.  Certainly crosses with Elisabeth have been purple flowering in the F1 generation. 

 

[Silverleaf]

And salmon pink too, once Salmon Flowered gets under way!

I think I have a couple of other pinks amongst my experimental peas, as well as two reddish ones - Scholar is brick/rose red and Unity, assuming it recovers from slug damage enough to flower, is crimson.

In my seed collection (but not sowed this year) are begonia pink flowers, greenish flowers, and a couple of interesting patterns as well.

[Silverleaf]

Galina, have you tried crossing Elisabeth with Salmon Flowered?

[galina]

Galina, have you tried crossing Elisabeth with Salmon Flowered?

No I haven't and sadly, I am not growing Salmon Flowered this year.

[Paulines7]

Silverleaf, you have some very beautiful pea flowers; thanks for sharing. 

Do you cross them just for yourself or will you market some of them?  Golden Sweet, Purple Podded and Elisabeth are my favourites from your selection of photos and I look forward to seeing photos of the others when the buds have opened.   

[galina]

Tachyon has 5 genes that mess around with the normal foliage structure.

af converts leaflets to tendrils.
apu converts pulvini (thickened sections at bottom of the leaf stem) into petiolules (leaf stems). I think this has the effect of basically lengthening the leaf stem, I'm certainly seeing long petiolules with Tachyon.
sil makes leaflets and stipules (the leaves directly attached to the main stem, where the axial colour is) sinuate, i.e. have wavy edges.
uni-tac increases the number of leaflets and tendrils.
tl converts tendrils to leaflets.

All are recessive. Now I don't begin to understand exactly how all these genes work together, but I suspect that the Tachyon plant I have with fewer bigger leaves is missing uni-tac.

I can't decide yet whether I like the effect of these mutations or am weirded out by them. Tachyon's definitely different, and it's looking like I'll have a pink-flowered one as well as a white-flowered one.

One good thing about it - there's almost no slug damage at all. The plants seem very firm with no soft leaves, and I guess the other peas around them are much easier for slimy gits to munch on.

Looks like Tachyon has quite a number of different varieties in it.  I like the larger leafed type.   Just because it is so outrageous!  Fewer slugs is a bonus too especially this year!  Now which type is less attractive to pigeons? 

[Silverleaf]

Silverleaf, you have some very beautiful pea flowers; thanks for sharing. 

Do you cross them just for yourself or will you market some of them?  Golden Sweet, Purple Podded and Elisabeth are my favourites from your selection of photos and I look forward to seeing photos of the others when the buds have opened.   

I'm breeding partly for my own interest, and partly to share seeds with people who will enjoy growing them. One of my long-term aims is to create a pretty pea mixture with multicoloured flowers (and a few pod and foliage colours thrown in as well), intended for those with small gardens so they can grow a decorative vegetable in the flower garden, or for those who just want their vegetables to look gorgeous.

I'm happy to give seeds away when I have enough to share.

[Silverleaf]

Looks like Tachyon has quite a number of different varieties in it.  I like the larger leafed type.   Just because it is so outrageous!  Fewer slugs is a bonus too especially this year!  Now which type is less attractive to pigeons? 

Well if the larger-leafed one sets pods, I'll collect the seeds for you. I'm not sure whether it's actually fertile or not...

Pigeons, no idea! I've a little bit of sparrow damage (annoyingly they go for the leaves protecting the new flower buds before they open, damaging the buds) but pigeons don't seem to be an issue here. There's always a couple of wood pigeons hanging around, but they haven't realised that peas taste good. Flocks of feral/town pigeons fly over occasionally, completely oblivious. I hope it stays that way.

[Silverleaf]

Today there's a pink Tachyon flower almost open, looking very much like Elisabeth in colour. It's lovely.

I'm waiting impatiently for Telephone to flower since I want to make lots of crosses with it, but it's a while away yet. I did sow it later than everything else, so hopefully there'll still be some flowers left on the other plants by the time it gets going.

[Silverleaf]

Tachyon flower - apologies for the poor picture, but it's in an awkward place and canes kept getting in the way of my iPad when I tried to snap this one. Comparing it with Elisabeth, it's just a touch more yellow in colour but I don't see a significant difference.

I've done the test cross Elisabeth x Tachyon, so once I grow that out I'll know whether Elisabeth has b. I'm betting it does.

[Silverleaf]

Salmon flowered now flowering. It's quite subtle, but I like it.


Sorry this isn't in focus, but this is one of the large-leafed Tachyon's flowers. You can see the keel is wide open and the anthers have withered - I guess we'll see soon whether it actually self-pollinated or not. That's definitely a serious flower abnormality.


Looks like Haka here will be next to flower. It's supposed to be bluish violet, and even at this early stage it looks dark. Can't wait to see what it's like tomorrow!

[Paulines7]

Beautiful flowers!  I love the salmon and pale blue. 

Are you coming to the A4A get-together at Walsall Allotments next month?  I would love to hear more about your pea experimental crosses. 

[Silverleaf]

Beautiful flowers!  I love the salmon and pale blue. 

Are you coming to the A4A get-together at Walsall Allotments next month?  I would love to hear more about your pea experimental crosses. 

Hmm. I don't know anything about the get-together. Unfortunately I don't think I can spare the money to get public transport down there (and I don't drive). Shame, because it's only maybe an hour's drive from Chesterfield. :(

[Silverleaf]

I love how pea flowers change colour as they get older. This Purple Podded flower's gone from maroon to royal purple, which is a beautiful colour.



Speaking of beautiful, Tachyon's getting prettier. Look at the lovely pink veining in the pale standard petals! It's almost exactly the same colour as Salmon Flowered, and a little paler and yellower than Elisabeth.


Finally, why are bees so attracted to flowers they can't get nectar and/or pollen from? I see it all the time, usually from these tree bumblebees. They land on the pea flower (this one is Elisabeth, which they seem more attracted to than the others) and poke around a bit, get nowhere, and move on to the next one. And there's no shortage of bee-friendly plants around here, and there's a lovely smelly valerian in full bloom right next to the peas and they usually love that.

Bees are weird.