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Seed saving & progeny

Jill Zimmerman wrote about saving seeds from sweet peas (Lathyrus cvs.) and an 
annual lupin (Lupinus cv.)

If the Lathyrus varieties you planted are described as 'F1' hybrids, you will 
definitely _not_ get the same plants as the parents.  This is not to say that 
the progeny of those plants will not be pleasing, but they will not be the 
same (they would be described as 'F2' plants).  Likewise, if you have planted 
seed strains that are selections, the progeny may or may not resemble the seed 
parent.  I am assuming that your seeds are the result of uncontrolled 
pollinations; therefore you cannot know which plant is the pollen parent, and 
cannot predict the results.  This is also not to say that the progeny will not 
be nice plants, but they will most likely not be the same as the seed parent 
-- or only a small minority will be.

Some selected cultivars are very stable, and progeny reliably carry on the 
characters for which the parent cultivar was selected.  With the Lupinus cv. 
you have a better chance of getting progeny close to the parent, providing 
that you did not have other lupins blooming at the same time.  Still, there is 
a posibility that the progeny will revert to the original species type, again 
depending on how stable the genetically the selection is.

All of this is to say that if you want to be sure that you get _exactly_ the 
same plants next year that you enjoyed this year, you will have to buy seed 
again.  I would recommend that you still save and plant your collected seeds 
-- you may have real gems among them!

HTH,
Phillip Allen
Stratford, CT  z7a
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