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Re: Heirloom and Open Pollination, etc.


Hugh,

Thanks for the input.  I get seeds from a lot of the plants I grow each
year, I guess this is a good example of open pollination.


JFR

At 09:31 PM 1/11/97 +0000, you wrote:
>In article <199701112027.MAA27336@dfw-ix3.ix.netcom.com>, JFR
><jrembet@ix.netcom.com> writes
>> Can someone explain "heirloom seeds" to me and what exactly open
>>pollination means?  Hopefully this is not too basic of a question for this
list.
>
>Heirloom, (or Heritage), Seeds are usually old varieties no longer in 
>large scale commercial production but sometimes still available from 
>specialists or enthusiasts. They still have value for the non-commercial 
>grower, be it taste, colour scent, etc. For instance, the Henry 
>Doubleday Research Association in the UK make many old vegetable 
>varieties available although they have long been superseded in the 
>commercial growing world.
>
>Open pollination means that the plants have been allowed to pollinate
>and set seed as nature intended, with no attempt being made to control
>colours, size, etc, by selective breeding or specific hybridisation. It
>basically means that you cannot guarantee exactly what you will get. You
>will get natural hybrids, both good and bad, and there is no way you
>will know what you get until you grow them. I like this because I think
>it adds to the pleasure of propagating your own plants :). Not so good
>if you want to make formal or specific colour displays 
>
>>A question that may be related:
>> I collect the dead flower heads from zinnias and marigolds and other
>>annuals from my garden.  If I sow these next year, will these result in an
>>inferior plant, or is it not possible to say?
>>
>See above. Some may be better some worse. If the originals were F1 or F2
>Hybrids then they will certainly not be the same. It doesn't cost
>anything, so try it.
>
>>Thanks.
>>
>This is also by way of a short de-lurk and introduction.
>
>My name is Hugh Simmons and I live in a Innerleithen in Scotland, a
>small village to the south of Edinburgh. My garden is at about 500ft
>above sea-level, but in a frost pocket at the bottom of a valley. The
>area is roughly equivalent to Zone 7-8 in US terms, with a high rainfall
>and very wet winters, so a lot of things don't survive.
>
>I have been gardening for about 20 years and am self-taught, no formal 
>qualifications. I grow mainly perennials and shrubs, most of which I 
>propagate myself, with varying degrees of success. I grow Geraniums, 
>mainly species, Dianthus and various types of Primula, but am always 
>keen to try something new, even if it doesn't work.
>
>I'm looking forward to learning a lot from the rest of you on the list, 
>and, I hope, being able to give something in return. 
>
>
>-- 
>Hugh Simmons
>hugh@st-ronan.demon.co.uk
>
>
>
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