Tag Archives: Hand Pollinating

Foxglove Magic

Developing a (more or less) stable seed line can be a pleasing project for the home gardener, though the selection process can take years. I treasure a lovely strain of California poppy developed by the late Connie Caunt in her tiny garden in Victoria, B.C. The strain includes many shades of cream, pink and lavender, from palest baby ribbon pastels to vivid rose and near purple. However, even after many years of Connie’s patient work and my continuing efforts, genetically dominant orange poppies recur every season and must be removed lest they overtake the rosy ones. Similarly, creating a reliably peloric seed strain is probably not the work of a few seasons, thanks to that tendency to revert to the norm. Continue reading

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