General Subjects > Flowers and Foliage Now

August 2022 in the Northern Hemisphere

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Robert:
Mariette,

I enjoyed your account of growing tomatoes from seed. I too have the habit of growing open pollinated tomatoes from questionable sources (the market, gifts from friend, etc.). For example, a friend of mine brought me some Cherokee Purple tomatoes from her son’s garden several years ago. I saved the seed knowing that they were likely hybrids. She had also brought me other tomato varieties from the same garden. I grew on the F1 tomatoes and got a uniform batch of Cherokee Purple like tomatoes. This year I grew on the F2 generation of plants. I was uncertain what I would get, and ended up with a typical batch of F2 plants – plants with a large variety of different characteristics. I did not grow enough F2 plants, so next year I will grow 50 or so plants and do early selection for the characteristics I like. This year I have a few F2 plants that I have selected to grow on as a F3 generation of plants. I do this with ornamental plants and end up with very interesting new plants. Seed exchanges can be a great source for surprise hybrids. Growing on the F2 generation plants frequently yields very interesting new plants. For me, this is very enjoyable. Seed exchanges can have additional benefits depending on how you want to look at the situation.

In our garden, Scarlet Runner Beans, Phaseolus coccineus, seem to outcross fairly easily with other P. coccineus varieties. Scarlet Runner Beans do not like the heat so I have switched over to growing Blackeyed Peas, Vigna unguiculata. They too are inbreeding, however they will outcross with other V. unguiculata varieties in our garden. I solve this situation by using blossom bags to assure that Bumble Bees do not cross-pollinate the different varieties we grow. As a side note, Jasmin and I have noticed both seasonal and long-term changes in the insect populations in our garden due to climatic change. For example, Gulf Fritillary Butterflies, Agraulis vanillae, were never seen in our area, now they are quite common. We have many other examples.

Here in our part of California, brutally hot and dry conditions are a yearly event. Gardeners in our area adjust to the climate or they do not garden. Most do not garden. Our garden looks lush and beautiful because I have made a conscious effort to design resiliency into our garden. All the groundwork – soil preparation, plant selection, irrigation, etc. – is in place to make the garden work despite the adverse growing conditions. It is a constant and ongoing process and there are always new challenges to deal with. Those in Europe who are, or were, experiencing extreme heat and drought can now take steps to prepare for the next round of heat and drought. It will come. It is possible to have a vibrant thriving garden despite extreme heat and drought.

Mariette:
Robert and Jeffnz,

thank You for Your answers!

Part of the reason for increased hybridising maybe indeed the fact, that with a hotter climate the population of insects partly changed, and more pollinators may be on the wing. Bees were always in our garden, as one of our neighbours is a bee-keeper.

On the other hand I noticed with plants like hellebores and trilliums, that they prefer certain temperatures when flowering to set seed, even when hand-pollinated, as I did for many years with hellebores. When it was too cold or too hot, my hellebores didn´t set seed even when pollinated by me.

Jeffnz:
I have had the same issues wiht HP'ing of hellebores, found that warm dry days and midday pollination seems to work the best.

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