About those young whipper-snappers---maybe it is true that the proportion of young people entering the field with real passion has declined. But this is an incredibly exciting time for gardeners, and the techniques being developed today by some of those whipper-snappers are astonishing. Who would have imagined whne we were growing up ( I am 51) that those whipper-snappers can now insert "blue" genes from other plants into roses to produce blue roses? Who would have guessed that ploidy could be controlled to the extent of making entire new lines of intergeneric hybrids possible? Who would have imagined the rash of extraordinary new orchid species discovered in the last few decades? Who would have guessed that we could actually trace the evolution of our favorite species and establish their genetic distance from other species, suggesting new possibilities for hybridization? Who would have guessed that anyone can click on ebay and obtain wonderful rarities
with just a mouse click? It is a fantastic time to be a gardener, and some of those whipper-snappers deserve a lot of respect!
Best,
Lou