BLUE POTATO FLOWERS

[Tom Wagner]

Go around any potato garden and blue will always be the least well represented of all colors. Most of the flowers described as 'blue' are, in fact, shades of mauve, violet or purple.
True blue in potatoes is extremely rare. However, a little blue will go quite a long way and planting blue flowered potatoes will add its striking nobility and dignity to any garden.

Instead of planting (Solanum rantonnetii) blue potato bush creepers for blue flowers ...why not plant real potatoes that you can have your "Cake and eat it too" sensibilities.

I named a granddaughter of SKAGIT VALLEY GOLD variety potato...BLUE MAGIC...not for the tuber color but for the near blue flowers. Of course, I crossed it with pollen from Skagit Valley Gold. One reason I made the cross of Blue Magic x Skagit Valley Gold is to get a seedling tuber with blue/purple skin and a flesh color to match the anthers. The color of the flowers of SVG is mauve.

Judge it for yourself...is it 'blue' enough?

[Granite26]

Tom
You have been a huge reason why my tomato garden has increased in variety and number of plants. Alas I think I will succumb to the same fate with potatoes.
That is a great looking flower. I just went back and looked thru the potato offerings on New World Seed and Tubers but do not see that one listed. Will we see it next time around? Sign me up! I look forward to trying many of your potatoes next year.
Thanks
Charles

[Tom Wagner]

The best way to get your own blue flowered potato is to look at the Skagit Magic and/or F-3 Skagit Magic...aka Magic Dragons. If you make a special request for those....I can honor either of those two. Mind you that only one out of a hundred seedlings of TPS may segregate for that blue color...I should try to offer a limited amount of tubers to go out...but that takes time and effort...and as busy as I am...sigh.

Diversity in potatoes is my goal...but I pay a price getting it all planted, tended, and harvested.

Later on this year...I will know if I get lots of TPS from my BLUE MAGIC. If I get lots...you can bet I will list it for 2013!!!!

[Granite26]

I'm late to the party this year but I guess I could start accumulating a few packets for next year

[Jayc]

What a beauty.

[wmontanez]

That is a pretty shade of blue. Thinking about it would look nice between blue hydrangeas in a flower bed. Yet another spot to grow potatoes in the front garden.

[wingnut]

bluest I go guincho negra

[meadowyck]

I'm a true blue flower lover, and they are rare, but more so on the eating side of things. I will hope for a good yield for you so we see seeds listed for 2013.

[Tom Wagner]

Gonna have to make a special trip tomorrow to use BLUE MAGIC as a male parent to many diploids....I know the crosses will take. If I make enough crosses I should be able to build up quite an inventory of segregating blue flowered TPS lines. The idea is to share these with a growing group of folks who will want Blue flowers in their potatoes. I will test some of the hybrid TPS in New Zealand come October to determine which throws the most blue flowers.

I will also use BLUE MAGIC crossing to tetraploids....hoping for the chance of it having some unreduced gametes. Not all diploids produce 24 chromosome gametes and those that do rarely produce more than one %. I hope to piggy back the genes for anthocyanin in the petals, peduncles, stems, stolons, tuber skin, and flesh across the threshold of two unrelated parents. Pairing non-allelic genes could be fun to process. I should have some Purple Majesty blooming well enough for making that cross...PM is taking over from All Blue in popularity. My webmaster has some blue S. ajanhuiri flowering and I need to test that species for ploidy level anyway.

[wmontanez]

For some reason I don't have a flower garden which may be rare in a woman. I like plants that have a double duty like flowering trees that give fruit or flowering plants that give tubers. But now that you talk about it I can combine edibles that have pretty flowers.

I grew once a hanging basket with impatient and radishes because otherwise I would ignore the flowers. I have Scarlet runner beans that is stunning in bloom with plenty of red cluster and beans after. I can put a trellis for the runner beans or peas and fill the area in front of it with fern, lily of the valley, blue or white hydrangeas, hosta and disguise Kale, chives and some blue flowering potatoes. For next year I might plant a front garden.

[Tania]

Tom, this is certainly a very striking deep blue color, wow, beautiful! I have been admiring my 'Russian Blue' potato flowers lately, but yours are gorgeous looking.

Like Wendy, I do not have a flower garden, and I only get to admire my tomato and potato flowers and Scarlet Runner bean flowers at this time of the year

[Tom Wagner]

I feel that vegetable crops could use an infusion of genes for more striking flowers. I used the blue flowered potato today in crosses...as a pollen parent. I crossed it to diploids and tetraploids of all colors of flowers.

[Tania]

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

I feel that vegetable crops could use an infusion of genes for more striking flowers. I used the blue flowered potato today in crosses...as a pollen parent. I crossed it to diploids and tetraploids of all colors of flowers.

I totally agree. Tom, your work is so much appreciated! At times I wish I could plant more potato varieties in my garden (I have 18 and 3 more new varieties from Germany I have not started from seeds yet), but this is about as much as we need to supply us with potatoes all year round

[Medbury Gardens]

I do like the blue colour in that flower of your Tom and Doug,what a lovely lovely photo that is ..............oh summer time,......i miss it