Growing Heirloom Plants
Growing heirlooms allows you to grow some older varieties
Heirlooms are the same vegetables and flowers that our grandparents and great grandparents were growing.
Heirloom seeds have been on the market for many years, but many people are still rather unsure of what they are and what the benefit is of growing heirlooms.
Basically an heirloom is regarded as the same plant as those that were grown before 1950. In an era of hybridization and after years of breeding programs, many of the plants available to our grandparents have been lost. Heirloom plants are the lucky ones that have survived and are once again available for gardeners to grow.
The industry is basically geared toward growing from seed so most heirlooms are either flowers or vegetables. One of the prime reasons that these varieties have survived is because they are open pollinated. The seeds from an open pollinated plant can be saved and grown the next year. This is not possible seeds from hybrid plants. To create a hybrid, two parent plant traits are crossed to create a seed with specific daughter traits. Sometimes this is better color or texture sometimes it is a tidier habit in the garden. Seeds from these hybrid plants will be a mix of traits from the parents and generally not as reliable. Breeding programs have also enhanced traits that are deemed to be better such as plant hardiness or less susceptibility to viral diseases. Roses are a particularly good example of breeding program production. Roses were bred for better blooms, longer blooms, better color and even less thorns. Along the way though, the scent that is associated with many old roses has disappeared.
Of course, not all breeding programs are bad. Some address problems in culture like a susceptibility to fusarium wilt in tomatoes, or mildew on monardas. These are positive steps that have helped many gardeners achieve satisfaction in the garden without additional chemicals.
Growing heirlooms though has many advantages to gardeners. Most heirlooms seeds are found in catalogues rather than on supermarket stands, and just as with any catalogue, seeds of so many varieties are available. Whether you want a green striped tomato (Green Zebra) or a purple carrot (Dragon) you will be able to find them among heirloom listings. Many of the selections have been found in Europe where these varieties are still grown in rural areas. Through careful growing they slowly become available to home gardeners. The bonus is that you can allow one or two plants to go to seed and that seed will grow the identical plant for you next year, without the need to buy more.
Heirloom seeds are also important to the historic garden industry. Many of the historic houses that you visit on holiday have made an attempt to grow vegetables and selections that were available to that original homeowner. If you are involved in one of these projects then look to heirloom listings that give the date of earliest introduction into the trade of a particular selection. For instance you will find that Burbank tomatoes were introduced in 1915, and the Early Russian pickling cucumber was first offered in 1888. If you visit public gardens, particularly historical properties, look to see what they are growing. You may find something that you would like to grow in your own garden.
So whether you are doing research for a specific project, or just like to grow interesting things, try a few heirlooms. You can find many catalogues on the internet but some reliable ones include Select Seeds, Seeds of Change, Old House Gardens, Baker Creek Seeds and Underwood Gardens.
