Re: [SG] Million Bells

In a message dated 5/26/99 12:40:39 AM Central Daylight Time, CCREDUX@AOL.COM
writes:

<< <<  Calibrachoa.
   >>

  I cannot find this genus in any of my books. Is it likely that the ICNCP has
 changed the name?
  >>

Hi all,

Monday night at our county hort. soc meeting, our speaker was Dr. Peter
Ascher from the U of MN, speakin on annuals and their history....very
interesting.  One of the plants he mentioned was petunias, especially the
Waves, and then Million Bells.  He said that Wave Petunias are the modern
Petunias just crossed back with a wilder "cousin', making them much cheaper
to produce, yet they sell them for lots more. I'm pretty sure he then said
that Million Bells was just another wilder version of the modern petunia....

If you ever have a chance to hear or read the history of annuals, do it.  His
talk included the reason different generations of gardeners used annuals and
their preferences.  He talked about how the industry has spent more money on
marketing annuals than on any other branch of horticulture, (including the
agricultural branch.)  Two things particularly interesting to me was the
1950's change in attitude that wanted bigger flowers and more novel flowers.
The discovery? of Cochtricine??, from the autumn crocus Colchicum, that turns
diploids into tetraploids (my non-scence background is really showing now
:o) made the larger flowers possible.  And the desire for novelty  caused the
industry to go to great lengths to make flower colors as far from natural as
possible, which was often the mauvy-pink color.   Then the next generation
decided they LOVED this color and suddenly the industry had to scramble to
try to prduce it again, but since they had been so efficient at getting rid
of it, they had to search in old refrigerators, old seed banks, etc to find
it.  They were really caught off guard it seems.   He had other equally
fascinating stories to tell.... like the "undercover" work that goes on to
try to find out what the competition is up to, the search for a new growing
environment in South Africa (most are grown in Mexico now), the new and very
different things to look forward to coming from New Zealand and Australia.
He said too, that he was even advised to put some lethal something-or-other
in his new introductions that would cause them to die after 6 weeks because
we gardeners would be ready for a change in our gardens by then!!!   well,
I've gone on too long here..

Cindy Johnson
White Bear Lake, MN
zone 4a

p.s.  disclaimer: this was all recounted from memory, and MY memory, no less,
so keep that in mind.

p.p.s (or p.s.s.)  I just got back from buying 2 more pots of Million Bells
because I'm so impressed with how long they last as cut flowers, and the tag
on these says MILLION BELLS  CALIBRACHOA TRAILING BLUE by Jackson
Perkins..hmmmm.  Also, it says "will spread and freely flower without any
pinching, deadheading, or pruning."   Claire, did you mention yours just died
out in the summer?  It does say keep soil mixture moist until well
established but to avoid water logged, soggy soils and plant in full to
partial sun location.  We'll see, I have tendency to forget to water my pots
sometimes.
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