Time travel and ancient plants
Jane McGary (Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:54:38 PST)
Bill (and we're all glad he escaped from his recent accident unharmed!) wrote:
This can serve as a reminder to all present-day breeders, and collectors of
rare plants, to make sure the fate of their collections is provided for in
their Will, as so often family members have little appreciation of the
historic
significance of what we do. Also during one's life, try to distribute
worthwhile plants as much as possible.
Although I don't hybridize plants, I do grow a lot of very scarce ones, and
I've done both the things Bill suggests. Not all my plants make it onto my
annual surplus list, but I try to send very special ones to people who live
in more hospitable climate zones where the plants are in less danger from
cold winters. In two cases, I found I was the only recipient of certain
seed collections who was still growing the species, and I was glad to learn
this so I could get them to specialists. I also have some mystery plants
(iris, tulip) from Halda collections of some years ago that I wish would
increase so I could split them up.
Another thing I'm planning to do is to transfer a lot of my stock to a
younger friend who is a skilled professional grower building a nursery.
Then when I finally abandon my rural lifestyle for a smaller place in the
city, the bulbs will still be available to the public.
I can't understand why some gardeners are miserly with their plants. It
seems to contradict the love of nature that brings us to gardening. It is
sometimes anxiety-provoking to send off a bulb to an address where I think
it won't prosper, but who knows? The recipient may be ten times the grower
I am, and Calochortus may flourish in Michigan.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA