Hi there.
been pollinnating by hand since jan i select and put chosen plants in my greenhouse and use them as the mother plant
collect flower from wanted cross and take off the flower and leave in a shallow dish of water to open fully and as the pollen develops i brush onto my selected plant . voila!
then just wait for flowers to develop seed and lable which was crossed with which dates etc.
pic is of one i selectively crossed for best markings over the space of 12 years from single to double.

That is a stunning flower, Mr. Guppy. I'm afraid my hybridizing is fairly random. I have very little garden space--not enough for a real hybridizing program. I'd really like to learn more about Hellebore genetics (esp. xOrientalis genetics), though, and hear about others' programs.

Amanda

beautiful mrguppy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Black One

Amanda, you need a goal. Decide what you wish for in a hellebore.
You might choose a color, certain flower form, you could hybridize for a certain foliage.
You need to decide if you will cross wide, like hybriding two HXH that are very differant...or if you will line breed, hybridizing HXH that are very similar and advancing forward to your goals..
The genetics of hybrid hellebores (HXH) vary greatly. Good genetic lines can be hard to find. The claimed percent of pictured HXH to be true can be disappointing. You need to know the parents very well. Knowing the background of a hellebore and what your hellebore parents offer to a cross is vital.

Allot of HXH produce inferior children. This is a dead end.

Some HXH will poduce allot of 'keepers' but the next generations may not.
Some less attractive HXH can produce very nice children and the children may offer further advancement.

I think mrguppy is line breeding. mrguppy has a plan, a goal and over generations has selected towards this goal to isolate the hellebore mrguppy wants.
I cross wide. After many years I still use the same HXH parent and cross this one hellebore will many different HXH and back cross to the parent as well children x children. I know this HXH well.This hellebore children will be very strong growers, will flower on the late side and the flowers will be towards the large size. This hellebore is a late flowering single cream with specks. It will give its good garden habits to its children and will show the flower traits of the other parent.

At the same time I wish for fine foliage that is held horizontal, The flower needs to be above the foliage into the summer and the flower should not fade but hold is color until it sheds its seed.
For foliage I look to H. torquatus , H. multifidus, hercegovinus and other species.The problem with using some species is that they will reduce flower size.

...also we have black. ..nothing like that deep deep purple.

Amanda genetics count, find the best gene's to meet your goals. Get to know your hellebores. With limited space, limit your goals and choose a growing method that will produce a mature hellebore as early as possible. Make space, get fussy, get rid of the things that do not meet your goals. KEEP GOOD RECORDS.

mrguppy, how long does it take you to grow a hellebore to flower? What do you do with those bad parents and those very bad children? What does it take for you to bring a new hellebore from outside your program into your program?

...opps, I should point out that "Black One", purple (HXH) X H. torquatus (serbia form) I consider a wide cross. Two very different hellebores. Out of fifty hellebore of this cross I have many "keepers". I have three like the pictured black hellebore in this fifty. These three I have inbred and crossed out to other similar HXH. ..still waiting to see if these will be a dead end or be an advancement.

Hi bruce03451
Stunning black, i am striving to get as dark as possible but with the biggest flowers i have some stock that originally came from hellen ballard who was line breeding to get a shorter neck so that the flowers face slighty outwards un fortunately i have lost the neck shortness but have managed to get some big flowers though not as dark as i would like yet so still trying.
iam no expert on crossing or species i just like experimenting and when i get good results i try to improve more on that line.

hello every one
Just wondering if any one knows where i can get a double black from? i live in the uk and have as yet to see one as good as the one i have seen on an australian website
Cant recall the name though but it was beautiful.

Do you mean Elizabeth Town from Tasmania Guppy? They went out of business.

This photo is wonderfull!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://sprzatanie-megan.waw.pl