Hybridizers: And so it begins..., 4 by pmmGarak

pmmGarak wrote:
As I promised, I have another Digitalis hybrid to present, 3 siblings to be precise, though I\'m not exactly sure about the parents - candidates are in pic 4. Seed parent is definitely D. grandiflora (right), but for pollen parent I have two closely related ideas: Digitalis ferruginea on top left, D. lanata on bottom left. Basically everything that sets the hybrids apart from grandiflora could be from both: Flowers have a pronounced lower lip, a more intense netting than grandiflora, are more open and more vertical in their orientation, and the tip of the stem doesn\'t bend down as much. To make it more chaotic, I even tend to think that pic 1 and 3 are half lanata, and pic 2 is half ferruginea, as it has a darker lower lip and, not easy to see in the picture, slightly darker and less hairy leaves.

Anyway, no matter who the parents are, I really like this one, as i find the honeyish color scheme, the nice pattern and the overall form of the flowers quite pleasing. I think there\'s some hybrid vigor involved, as the flowers are slightly bigger than gradiflora (don\'t get tricked by that name, purpurea-flowers are far bigger than those), even though both potential pollen parents would be considerably smaller.