THere are some of the cultural mysteries in gardening that I wonder if I’ll ever get to the bottom of. As someone who has recently indulged in small home breeding with rare begonias, here’s one that has always fascinated me, even if the mere mention of it likely leads to my cancellation: Why are so many new plant varieties so hideous?
If you’ve searched any major gardening catalog lately, you’ll know what I mean, especially when it comes to bedding plants. Varieties with more fluorescent colors than ever, often with contrasting color spacers, where highlighter pink harmonizes with citrus green Day Glow. Breeders often layer these spikes as well, with stacked petals and leaves and flowers so diverse that poor plants can barely tolerate them. There isn’t much else you can do for a plant to make it more dazzling, other than spray it with glitter and coat it with gold paint.
Now, I am well aware of how wonderful this is to gardening, as well as the amazing level of breeding ingenuity and dedication required to achieve this level of vulgarity. However, my question – regardless of personal taste – is whether these varieties are useful for gardening. I fully realize the importance of having a wide range of plant choices to help support the greatest diversity of gardening styles, but how many people meet Barbara Cartland-drag race Varieties really liking? Was it created this way because the aesthetic scale that breeders operate on—as with many cultural aspects of gardening—has been outdated for a few decades? After all, the process of plant breeding is notoriously slow. These items would make perfect sense in an era when crochet toilet covers or dried faucets were common in interior design. But it is not quite in line with all the current trends in fashion, graphic design, architecture and interiors.
Is it because these are simply the most common genetic quirks that come up when plant breeders look for new traits? Contrast, color breaks, and jagged petals are some of the most common mutations that occur, for example, when plant breeders try to get them to use things like gamma radiation. So is it more about the function of the properties available to play with, rather than the aesthetic goal with which they are actively working? Or is it just a thirst for novelty? If all you’re looking for is something that stands out as visually different in a sea of thousands of identical plants on a breeding stand, this may start to take precedence over something that actually looks good. Who do you know?
It is very disappointing to see such a diverse group of plants, from begonias and fuchsias to petunias, which look so elegant, exotic, and, above all, different from each other in the wild, and all transformed into the same ornamental, marshmallows, interchangeable pellets To switch approx. They are not only in terrible taste, they all look the same. Am I alone wondering this? Or have I just become one of the horrid-opinionated gardening snobs that I always do my best to avoid?
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