Articles
SUMMARY OF SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONS
On our field trip we were exposed to the ideas and innovations of some of Maryland’s commercial growers, and to the ongoing research at the Florist and Nursery Crops Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Many of the participants were also fortunate enough to be able to visit the plant collections of the Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
This symposium has had a broadening effect on our outlooks and has stimulated us to continue exploring the challenges inherent in new floricultural crop development.
From Roger Lawson, C. Vonk Noordegraaf, Mark Roh and Allen Armitage, we have learned about the problems areas of new crops and systematic approaches to study them.
We have been exposed to a variety of "new floral crops" definitions.
Mark has reminded us that it is not enough to study how to grow the plant, but we must also partcipate in the effort needed to bring the crop to its potential on the commercial scale.
New crops can be selected from the native wild flowers of areas as diverse as Australia, South Africa, Taiwan, Korea, and the Canary Islands.
As John Considine remarked, sometimes it’s the EUREKA! approach.
Such finds must be evaluated for all manner of problems and potentials.
When collecting wild forms, we must be aware of the endangered and threatened status of a species or genus.
Commercial production may enable a species to survive when it may become extinct in the wild, but we must be aware, too, of preserving a range of germplasm and not allowing our selections to derive from too narrow a genetic base.
Somehow, we must gain more recognition of the preservation efforts of horticulturists by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but this also will mean participating in the review efforts long dominated by environmentalists and ecologists.
New crops can be found in botanical garden collections.
Perhaps Senecio and Skytt Andersen’s Clerodendron began their trek into new crops research from such sources.
"Old" plants from the garden become new when we bring them into pot cultivation. Iris, Aquilegia, Achillea, Physostegia, and Delphinium are examples discussed here.
The role of the plant breeder has been strongly emphasized in many examples of crops we have discussed.
The breeders contribute much by identifying the weaknesses of old varieties and improving on them.
Examples include the begonias, lilies, hibiscus, and calla lily.
By selecting genetically dwarf plants, potted plants can be produced without the use of the chemical growth retardants, a technology now being viewed critically by everyone concerned with