Time Honoured Garden Favourites

In recent decades gardeners have been inundated with choices made available to them by plant breeders. The old varieties of plants, grown by our grandparents, have become difficult to find, but heirlooms are making a come back. Adding a few heirloom plants (varieties that have been in cultivation for at least fifty years) can restore childhood memories.

Modern varieties of garden plants are often developed with increased hardiness or disease tolerance, but may lack fragrance or flavour. Heirloom plants may be a bit more of a challenge to grow, but many gardeners choose them for the taste that they remember from youth. Some gardeners choose old varieties for their historical value and to help preserve the genetic diversity of garden plants.

Increasingly catalogs and nurseries are carrying heirloom varieties. Growers can add a few to their gardens or plan an authentic garden that might have been grown by early pioneers in North America.

Link: Heirloom plants stand test of time from the News Tribune, Tacoma Washington

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:44 PM on May 17, 2005

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