------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Going, Going, Gone.
If we were managing animals in a zoo, we would have long ago been fired. Noah would have been thrown out of the arc if he treated nature’s bounty as we have been. And despite our great wealth of culture that we are blessed with today, part of our human nature is at constant battle with what should be common sense practice. After several years of growing‘geraniums’ and reading many books devoted to them, it is ever-increasingly apparent to me that we are losing more varieties each year due to poor management. With tighter trade regulations, an aging collective body, and various pests and disease threats, it is more important than ever to preserve what stock of plants we have left in this country; else we will, and the next generation will, surely be left buying generic stock from predictable suppliers.
Ask anyone who once traveled to collect specimens and they will tell you great stories of returning with dozens of new plants. If I could turn back time, I would have amassed my collection in the 1990s when it was still possible. Around the turn of the century (yikes, 2000), many countries began restricting the flow of plants in efforts to stop the flow of various diseases and exotic competitive species. It is very important for our government to protect our agricultural efforts, but when they delay material being screened for entry to the point of death, this also ends the trade of specimens. Even more frustrating is the apparent confusion of regulation between border crossings, as some ‘houseplants’ enter freely, while many legitimately declared specimens are confiscated. Our benign plants are treated as if they were narcotics or illegal weapons. Will Granny be thrown in the slammer for gingerly sneaking in some geraniums? Doubtfully. But what a waste of time and gas money in making such an attempt. And even the American specialist growers are disappearing as time goes by, partly due to these stricter borders. Clearly with difficult regulations the last specimen in our country may as well be the last in the world, so we must ensure its preservation.
Aging brings wisdom and experience, but it also may bring arthritis and reduced mobility. Whether aging is graceful or abrupt, we must strive to ‘pass the torch’ to the younger generation and they will carry on the preservation of our varieties while learning about their histories and culturing tips from us. Every population can be studied with numbers using demographics, and I don’t need to prove the point that our club is primarily made of members in their golden years. Are we doing enough to encourage or mentor younger growers? As the oddball youngster in our club, even I am encouraged when children visit our shows. I suppose many people get into growing plants a little later in life than most other hobbies, but this does not mean that we cannot attempt to recruit younger members. What it surely means, however, is that we need to preserve our horticultural stocks so that when the next wave of pelargonium enthusiasts arrive, we have not lost the varieties that they will surely want to grow. And with baby boomers retiring at record numbers, the next wave is nearly here. The danger occurs primarily when the gap between generations is great, as a variety can be lost in a single growing season if managed poorly, so just imagine a decade of losses. When each variety represents months (or years) of labour through breeding, nurturing, stabilizing, and growing, they thus each represent a treasure within our collection. We owe it to the next generation of Canadian growers to share our plant lists and cuttings else our varieties will die with us, and that would be a great shame.
If trade restrictions and an aging club population were not enough trouble to face, the living world is giving us some pesky problems too. I have written previously about the soil mealy bug pest problem, but I feel the need to remind people once again of how terrible a pest it truly is to our collections. No other pest is as damaging and frustrating to the pelargonium grower, and with reduced pesticide availability, we must change our growing methods in response. Secure plants from trusted growers, and isolate them or take cuttings before introducing them to your primary growing quarters. Fortunately there are not many other insects that can decimate the zonal pelargoniums, but there are many diseases such as botrytis, wilts, and rusts just to name a few. I suspect several varieties in our club may be infected with such pests and diseases, making the preservation efforts an even greater challenge. When in doubt, isolate the plant, take pictures and share them with other club members to help diagnose the problem. It is great to share a treasured specimen with a fellow grower, but to pass along a pest or disease is reason enough for somebody to stop growing plants due to great frustration.
So with all of the aforementioned problems we face, what are we to do? Everybody should make a detailed list of the plants in their collections, and keep it up to date. Next they should share this list with other members so that we will be able to flag which plants are rare and reproduce those varieties more than the common ones. This is where the common sense is conflicting with a part of our human nature with regard to collecting. Some people feel ‘special’ or ‘unique’ if they have a rare specimen that others don’t. They truly are more lucky than special. If you know that you have a rare specimen, what is keeping you from sharing cuttings? As a breeder of new varieties each year, I presumably have more invested in certain specimens than anyone, but I know how important it is to distribute them into as many people’s collections as possible. My new varieties may hook people into growing pelargoniums, or simply may make somebody happy when they put up a new bloom. I do not grow and hybridize plants to have something that others will envy over in years of jealousy…I grow them to share and celebrate the beauty of life. And if my varieties make it through several generations past my life, I will be content in knowing that I helped make the world a more colourful one.
