God has given this earth a vast diversity of plant life; this is to fit the many niches all over the world. As man has traveled he has taken plants with him and to serve his needs. These plants were for food, comfort and some were to enhance and beautify his home, while some just planned interesting. Subsequently, early man started the process of making plants better. This tinkering with the genetics has been one of many fascinations of an early man finding an ear of better corn or a more attractive plant. In early 1900 every seed and nursery catalog had its list of new plants. Now with modern marketing, it has given rise to the mass numbers of new plants to decide on each year. I estimate this number to be about 1,000 to 2,000 per year. This number could be higher.
The push to market and success of any one of these plants is at best minimal. There is only so much space at any given retail outlet and a short time to make these selections. I hope I can help to find the underdog plants that are pushed back by mass marketing, not that mass-market plants are bad but they are pushed by more dollars.
We will look at the new varieties, the old and true varieties, the underused varieties, some that have come and gone. The histories of plants and horticultural tips that will help grow plants to their best. Talk to the people that bring us these plants, the breeders, and marketers and what moved them to give us another plant to decide on. Another interest is what specifics make a person decided on buying any given plant. We will delve into the edible plants and what is obtainable and why people chose to grow and eat a particular plants and where these plants were native.
This is a lot of territories to cover and there is the weather, the major factor in what determines if a plant will live or die. When your passion is planting it is a pleasure to converse on these subjects. I hope I have challenged you enough to follow me on this new venture.
Oh did I mention we will also look at some of the plants of the Bible!
This entry was posted in Horticulture History, Plant History on March 22, 2014, by admin. Edit
This is my seventieth DECORATION DAY, (yes I know the name has changed) but it has always been a special day as it was the day my mother prepared flowers to decorate the graves of our ancestral history and the forgotten soldiers that had fought to make America free. From where we lived we had to trek in all four directions to visit the many cemeteries and graves this process took about a week to accomplish. I wish I could remember the stories mother told of each person that we stopped by and there location but time has eroded my mind. Continue reading 