Part 1 - Boxwood Breeding and Selection
by Bennett Saunders, General Manager, Saunders Genetics, LLC
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” Anonymous.
This famous saying applies to breeding boxwood as well. In this two-part series, we’ll reveal current breeding and selection efforts and the trialing protocols - a slow yet rewarding process of discovery!
We are excited about our two current NewGen® Boxwood cultivars, but we’re not resting on our laurels. We have more work to do!
There have been minimal changes in the boxwood lineup since the Sheridan cultivars ‘Green Velvet’, ‘Green Mountain’, ‘Green Mound’, and ‘Green Gem’ were introduced in large numbers to the industry in the 1980’s. Those cultivars certainly filled a need for better cold hardiness in the Midwest, but their widespread adoption into the mid-Atlantic states revealed substantial boxwood leafminer susceptibility.
With an excellent understanding of the strengths and weakness of just about all current boxwood varieties, NewGen® has an extensive breeding program with two breeders doing the initial crosses. In addition to insect and disease resistance and the all-important WOW factor, breeding goals of both programs include the creation of an entire spectrum of boxwood growth habit and foliage - large and small, upright to prostrate, blue-green to green to variegated.
· Dr. Keith Yoder, a retired professor of Plant Pathology from Virginia Tech, is focusing on boxwood varieties that are suited for USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 6 through 8, with an emphasis on resistance to diseases and insects that are prevalent in this area. Thousands of his seedlings are already on the path to evaluation.
One of the benefits of having decades-old boxwood comparison trials onsite at Saunders Brothers Inc. is the wealth of germplasm for Dr. Yoder to work with.
· Meanwhile Mike Yanny, a longtime plant breeder from Wisconsin, is collaborating with NewGen® to find boxwood with not only insect and disease resistance, but also reliable cold hardiness for USDA Zones 4 and 5. As some of his initial work was done in the 1980’s, this program should yield results quickly. We already have mature mother plants from his program which give us good indications of the overall size, shape, and WOW factor of a particular hybrid. Very exciting!
Bennett and Antonio care for some NewGen® prospects from Mike Yanny’s breeding program.
As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Boxwood breeding is a long game. It is difficult to be certain of the physical attributes of a boxwood until the plant is at least 6-8 years old. Other attributes may take even longer to evaluate. Many hybrids will be 10 years old before they make the short list. But there is so much promising material in the pipeline!
Join us for Part 2 of Growing for the Future in our August issue:
Trialing, Trialing, and more Trialing