Dave,

If they say "F1 Hybrid" versus just "hybrid" you can be fairly certain that it is a hybrid, although there are exceptions to that. For example, the Profusion zinnias are frequently referred to as F1 hybrids although they are, in reality, open pollinated. They were "created" by an F1 hybrid cross between two zinnia species, and then their chromosomes were doubled to make them fertile, thereby creating a new zinnia species called Zinnia marylandica. (A hybrid between two species with different chromosome numbers is usually infertile, because plants with odd chromosome numbers are usually sterile.)

Another way to have a pretty good idea whether the "Hybrid" seed is truly an F1 hybrid is the cost of the seeds per seed. Frequently hybrid seeds cost a lot more because of the extra expense involved in their production.

"The picture and description say that the flowers are all purple, so can more or less tell it is a hybrid from a true red with a true blue (unless there is a true purple gene)..."

I think there is a true purple gene or genes, so you can't tell from the color alone.

MM

MM. Thanks.

Another thing is I am searching on what I want to hybridize since I still have some time before spring arrives. I understand that crossing between species is difficult, but is crossing within species always possible?

For example, since you cross zinnia, I did a search and found zinnia elegans, haageana, tenuifolia, etc. Do you have to pick one and cross within it or can you take any zinnia and cross them?

I also looked at sweet pea. Sweet pea is a species. Does it mean I can take any sweet pea and cross with any sweet pea? (I am talking about the fragrant sweet pea, not the edible pea which some catalog also lists as sweet.)

Dave,

"For example, since you cross zinnia, I did a search and found zinnia elegans, haageana, tenuifolia, etc. Do you have to pick one and cross within it or can you take any zinnia and cross them?"

You can attempt to cross any zinnia species with any other zinnia species, because interspecific hybrids are possible. However, if you cross a zinnia species with another zinnia species that has a different number of chromosomes, your interspecies hybrid will almost certainly be infertile or sterile.

I choose to cross within Zinnia elegans because I don't want to have any crossing problems, and Z. elegans has a wide variety of good looking strains.

At some future time, I may experiment with interspecies zinnia hybrids, but for my first experiments I will probably stick with zinnia species that have 24 chromosomes, such as Z. violacea (aka elegans), Z. haageana, and Z. peruviana.

I don't know about Sweet Peas, so I can't answer questions about them.

MM