Property News · February 7, 2021

Time to bring busy lizzies out of the shade | James Wong


One of the garden’s most common bedding plant has plenty of exotic varieties that are easy to grow and are disease resistantI am not sure whether it’s because when times are tough we often gravitate toward nostalgia, but as I browse the seed catalogues this winter, I am thinking wistfully about busy lizzies. This lush, free-flowering, easy-to-grow genus from cool, highland rainforests was once one of the most common bedding plants for shady spots. Yet in the past decade an outbreak of a new and deadly fungus-like disease – impatiens downy mildew – led to a collapse in demand for these plants. Deadly as it is, the disease appears to be extremely species-specific, centred squarely on Impatiens walleriana, which made up probably 99% of the market. Discovering this, plant breeders worked to create new varieties by crossing the susceptible species with other close relatives to create plants with a much higher genetic resistance. As a botanist, I do wonder: why the over-reliance on a single species? There are about 1,000 species of impatiens, many of which are far more striking and exotic-looking, and just as easy to grow. Rather than a disaster, could this be a much needed spur to open our eyes to a huge diversity of possibilities that we have been missing? Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Time to bring busy lizzies out of the shade | James Wong

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