Ö÷²¥´óÐã

TV and Radio  permalink

fertility of double flowers

• Message 1. 

  Posted by dibberdave (U13964027) on Wednesday, 13th May 2009

  GW goes from bad to worse. The programme featuring Malvern Show totally lost the plot trying (unsucessfully) to be light entertainment when surely the purpose is to inform. When it did try to inform it gets the facts wrong. Surely Carol Klein should know that many double flowers are not sterile and do produce seed, e.g. Aquilegia and even the Meconopsis cambrica which was one cited as sterile. How does Carol think rose breeders such as David Austin manage to produce new varieties if double Roses are sterile. For goodness sake this is not a variety show; try to inform in an interesting way and get the facts right.

  Link to this forum: fertility of double flowers

  Report message1

• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by TheHejhog (U7657776) on Thursday, 14th May 2009

  I dabble in genetics.
  
  Fertility of all double flowering species is diminished, and many are indeed infertile. The double petals are the result of the plant using its reproductive parts to make more petals. Infertile double flowering plants are often derived from hybridising fertile parent plants, and using a variety of methods to induce double flowering: temperature, plant hormones and x-rays.
  
  
  
  Hejhog

  Link to this forum: fertility of double flowers

  Report message2

• Message 3

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Helen (U7966981) on Thursday, 14th May 2009

  I'm no expert but I do know that many of my double daffs are just a mass of petals and have no apparent reproductive parts that I can see. They have not set seed like my single daffs and last a lot longer as a result.

  Link to this forum: fertility of double flowers

  Report message3

• Message 4

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by dibberdave (U13964027) on Saturday, 16th May 2009

  You miss the point. I am not stating that many, perhaps most, double flowers are sterile but that there are still many which are fertile even if fertility is reduced. If viewers were to follow Carol Klein's advice they would never seek to collect seed from double flowers and what an opportunity they would be missing. The purpose of this programme is, I hope, to inform, particularly those who are newcomers to the gardening scene and misinformation like this is doing nobody any favours. I, too, dabble in genetics; I have 2 children!

  Link to this forum: fertility of double flowers

  Report message4

• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by TheHejhog (U7657776) on Monday, 18th May 2009

  I, too, dabble in genetics; I have 2 children! 
  
  That's not dabbling in genetics! That is basic practical biology. People do not need an education for that.
  
  I have a degree in biotechnology and did modules in plant physiology and plant bioscience. The latter involved "Frankenstein" plants, GM rice and so on. It's made me all the more determined that we should not have GM plants in Europe, ever. But that is a discussion for another day.
  
  Hejhog

  Link to this forum: fertility of double flowers

  Report message5

Back to top