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Interview: Renée O'Connell

If you don't know who Renée O'Connell is, you should be ashamed to call yourself a Succulent Lover.

People drop her name when talking about their succulents, saying that they got a Renée O'Connell Original. It's like saying you own a Versace-Gucci-Burberry top-of-the-line-what's-it.

If there ever was a Succulent Fashion Week, this woman would be running it.

Admire the geometry of Echeveria 'Cubic Frost' PP27527. Photo courtesy of Renée O'Connell.

She has written several articles in published journals already. There's a great post by Debra Lee Baldwin with gorgeous photographs of some of her hybrids. You can buy her creations at Altman Plants, one of the largest wholesale greenhouses of succulents in America, where she works as a Staff Hybridizer with Kelly Griffin (She is known for her Echeveria, Crassula and Aeonium hybrids and he's known for his Aloe and Agaves). In short, you can read a lot about and by this woman. So why am I adding fuel to an already well-burning fire? What can I contribute to this conversation besides what is already out there? 

Today, I want to introduce you to a little bit of who Renée O'Connell is as a succulent artist, and maybe instill in you, dear readers, a deeper appreciation of what she does-- which is applying the science of genetics to a practical and beautiful creation.

 She has graciously allowed me to interview her and has provided the photos of her hybrids that you see today. I should also mention that I've embedding links within her answers that will take you to another page of this blog that will help to explain the terminology.

Renée O'Connell Original Hybrids

A list of some of her hybrids can be found here. Clicking on each speciman can give you some photos. One of her hybrids is the Echeveria "Chroma" shown here courtesy of  succulentmajesty (@succulentmajesty) on Instagram and "Stella Blanc," photo courtesy of @oddlotfarm. Thanks again for letting me embed this photo!




Interview

What got you interested in succulents?

 I was very taken with the unusual morphologies of cacti and began collecting them. Soon after, I discovered the other "succulents", with their amazing color palette, and their bizarre textures. Succulents are amazing; they are extremely tenacious and opportunistic, and I am not sure if anyone ever fully knows their secrets.


What got you started hybridizing succulents?

 Well, I began to wonder, given that succulents are so diverse in appearance, what other colors/morphologies could be created with breeding. Hybrids are a bit scant in habitat as there are often issues with variability in species, different flowering times, and different pollinators.


Was there a special educational program for learning to do what you do or did you learn on the job?

 There are educational programs for breeding, but I typically like to jump in head first; gathering as much technical information as possible, learning from any available expert, and then getting "hands on" experience as soon as possible. For myself, I find that the "hands on" experience immediately elicits questions and notations that seem to get me up and running faster than if I were to only depend on textbook experience.

 What’s your favorite part about being a succulent breeder?

 What I love is the ability create novel plants; plants that likely never would have existed in habitat. In the greenhouse, it is possible to unite varieties from all over the world, providing a limitless palette for recombination of genes. Best of all, I find that breeding is a synergistic process; the more novel colors/morphologies/textures that are created, the more the imagination is enhanced to greater levels.

 Do you always have a clear intention of what sort of hybrid you want to make before you make it?

 I usually have a concept of what I would like to create; but sometimes the idea morphs as I am collecting up the parents to make that union.

Are there ways of predicting what a hybrid may look like, either computationally or just eyeing it up?

 Given enough data from previous crosses, a general prediction is possible, but there are certain factors that can skew the results; including ploidy of the parents, whether one or both parents may be a hybrid themselves, and other hidden genetic "surprises".

Do you need to know a lot about genetics?

 The more you know about genetics, the better. But you can't ever know enough; there are always unpredictable surprises.

 Do you find things generally follow Mendelian genetics? For instance, recessive vs. dominant traits as opposed to sort of random expressions.

Mendelian genetics are generally followed if one is working with two parents of similar ploidy that are not hybrids. However, once variable ploidy is added, or parents of hybrid origin, particularly of variable ploidy, the puzzle becomes more unpredictable.
What is your favorite hybrid succulent that you made?

 I have trouble choosing one "favorite" anything; there can be many "favorites", each appreciated for their differences. If I had to narrow it down to three, I'd probably say Echeveria 'Sparkle' (the photo explains it all), Echeveria 'Cubic Frost' PP27527 (for its geometry) and another would have to be xTacisedum 'Solar Flare' (an example of ramifications of polyploid; one parent is a tetraploid, the other is a dodecaploid.

Echeveria 'Sparkle'
Echeveria 'Sparkle'. Photo courtesy of Renée O'Connell.

Echeveria 'Cubic Frost'
Echeveria 'Cubic Frost'. Photo courtesy of Renée O'Connell

 xTacisedum 'Solar Flare'

xTacisedum 'Solar Flare'. Photo courtesy of Renée O'Connell

xTacisedum 'Solar Flare'. Photo courtesy of Renée O'Connell

Have you ever made something unexpected but cool?

 Echeveria 'Sparkle' is a plant that I think has a very cool texture, and was definitely unexpected!
Echeveria 'Sparkle'. Photo courtesy of Renée O'Connell.

Is there anything you would like to add?

 Some of those more elusive ideas I would love to bring to reality ~ way too many to mention, but a few include:
An Echeveria with a crystalline texture of the leaves.
An enhancement of the texture of Echeveria 'Sparkle'; but with more geode-like encrustations, glowing in transparent rose.
An Echeveria with a texture of metallic rose red.

Amethyst.

fin

My own personal favorite is Galaxy Blue. You can see another photo of it here.

If you're in the mood to learn more about Phylogeny/Taxonomy, Cross-breeding Genetics, Variegation Genetics, and Ploidy, click on the links.

If you want to read more by this Master Hybridizer, here are some other sources:

Breeding Echeverias by Renee O'Connell
Cactus and Succulent Journal Sep 2014 : Vol. 86, Issue 5, pg(s) 211- 213 https://doi.org/10.2985/015.086.0502

Painting with Chromosomes: The Art of Echeveria Breeding
Matthew Maggio, Robert Campbell, Renee O'Connell &, and Dick Wright
Cactus and Succulent Journal Sep 2014 : Vol. 86, Issue 5, pg(s) 204- 207 https://doi.org/10.2985/015.086.0512

A BIG BIG THANK YOU TO MS. O'CONNELL WHO AGREED TO SPREAD THE JOY OF SUCCULENT GENETICS. 

Disclaimer
Renée O'Connell graciously helped me bring this post to life for all of you, to spread the joy of genetics in action. Science belongs in the world, practically, usefully, not just in school. This post was not endorsed by Altman Plants. None of the links on this post are affiliate links, in other words, I make no money from this post. Nothing I say on this blog reflects the views or opinions held by any company, period.
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