Plant breeding has always been a fascinating part of gardening.
With some flowers, amateur gardeners have contributed much to developing new varieties. This is true, especially of daylilies, gladiolus, and irises.
These are some of the more accessible flowers to hybridize. In addition, new generations of these plants bloom relatively quickly.
They are also customarily propagated vegetatively, so once a new variety is selected, it is not difficult to increase it.
Other garden flowers are more difficult to handle for a variety of reasons.
Some require several growing seasons before the new plants reach blooming size. This is true of lilies, peonies, and many ornamental woody plants.
Some groups have very tiny or unusually formed flowers making hybridizing difficult.
Difficulties may be met because of certain conditions such as sterility, the need for special requirements, and the like.
Professional plant breeders often use special facilities, like greenhouses with lighting, temperature, and humidity controls, to ensure a high percentage of successful crosses.
This kind of equipment is too costly for the average amateur gardener. Special techniques may be required for specific assignments, so breeding becomes the job of a professional.
Propagating New Annual Flower Varieties
Breeding new varieties of annual flowers present difficulties since these are raised from seed each year. However, it may be simple to make the first actual crosses or combinations.
The work comes in deciding the crossing procedure in the next generation and the ultimate establishment of the desirable lines in the development process.
Thorough knowledge of plant breeding and genetics is required for the person who tries to improve annual flowers.
After two hot varieties are crossed, the plants in the first generation may either be self-pollinated or crossed back to one or both of the parents.
After that, individual plants are studied, and the most promising ones are selected and self-pollinated for several generations until the desired characteristics become stable.
Individual plants are caged so that bees and other insects do not pollinate the flowers with outside pollen.
If the flower crop dealt with is typically self-pollinated, it will likely set seed without insect pollination. However, if it requires insects for pollination, insects may be brought into the cage.
Undergoing Seedling Testing
Only one in several thousand seedlings may be worth increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to test thousands of seedlings to bring results.
After a promising seedling is found, it must undergo thorough testing before it is released to the public.
Many flowers are grown in the All-America testing programs. Unfortunately, many profitable selections fall by the wayside due to this screening.
The best ones are given awards, and the winners are announced publicly.
Development of a new variety of flowers is thus a long time process. It may take 5 to 15 or more years from the time the original cross was made until one of the selections from this cross is chosen, increased, and introduced to the public.
When the All America winners are announced in January, you can be sure that each comes from a time-consuming breeding program.
44659 by Leonard A. Yager