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I saw this and thought it sounded kind of interesting... http://store.yahoo.com/iris/aboutiris.html
Many feel hybridizing is only for the experts. That is simply not true. It is a relatively simple process, but it does take up to three years to see the resulting bloom from your new creation. If you would like to try it I'll give a very short primer here. Inside each bloom are both male and female sex organs. Just behind the beard you will see the male stamen. Directly above the stamen is the style crest (see the diagram). After the bloom is opened, and on a dry windless day, take tweezers and remove the stamen. Try to keep the pollen on the stamen intact. Next rub the stamen on the lip of the style crest of another iris(there is a small sticky area that receives the pollen). I usually take multiple stamens from one iris and fertilize another iris on each of the blooms. If you are lucky fertilization will occur. YOU MUST LET THE BLOOM REMAIN ON THE STALK. After a week or so you will see some swelling begin just below the fading bloom that you fertilized. This swelling will continue until the bloom has dropped off leaving a thumb-sized seed pod. Be sure and let the pod ripen until late summer. Keep an eye on the pod. Once it appears to be browning or splitting open harvest the seeds from inside. Let the seeds dry and plant in seed trays or in the soil in nice rows. To keep your crosses straight I tag the stalk with the names of the crosses. The pod parent is listed first, the pollen parent second ... Vanity X Helen Ruth, for example. In the spring you will see grass like growth from your seeds. You may separate them a little if you like as they grow. You will probably have to wait until the second year to get a bloom. But don't be surprised if the blooms are many different colors. Like children, the blooms may be somewhat similar, but they can surprise you.
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