This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Aster novae-angliae

Duncan wrote:

>Plants raised from seed will  usually have violet flowers, even if the
>seeds were saved from strongly colored cultivars.  Unless the aim is to
>experiment, this is not a recommended method of propagation.

A few years ago John Metcalf, who runs Four Seasons Nursery in Norfolk,
England and who's raised many good new perennials, grew a large batch of
seedlings from open pollinated seed from 'Andenken an Alma Potschke'.

The result was a highly mixed stand of seedlings, perhaps fifty or sixty
plants. None were exact matches with the shocking pink of the parent; a few
were fairly similar but many were entirely different - some were much
shorter, some were white, there were many shades of pink and a few purples.

Violet shades did not dominate but the wide range of types probably
reflected that fact that he was already growing a large number of named
varieties so pollen could have come from all sorts of parents.
Interestingly, he decided that none of these seedlings was better than
existing named varieties and they were all composted!

Graham Rice
UK zone 8
References:
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index