New flower power!

Agricultural Research, Sept, 1994 by Hank Becker

"Developing a new floral crop involves a long gestation, and the outcome may be unpredictable," says Roger H. Lawson.

After 14 years of experience leading what is now the ARS Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit--and nearly 10 years of directing a new crop development program Lawson has learned this lesson firsthand.

Recently, the Florist and Nursery Crops Laboratory at the Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center was combined with scientific staff of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The purpose: to strengthen research on tree, shrub, and floral crops.

K. Darwin Murrell, director of the Beltsville area that includes the arboretum and laboratories based at the center, says the new partnership combines the arboretum's operating budget and research staff with those of the Beltsville lab to form a new floral and nursery plants research team. Its yearly $3.2 million budget, 13 scientists, and 39-employee staff are now assigned to the arboretum.

"We have merged together some of the finest scientific expertise in landscape and nursery plant research," says Murrell.

His praise is well deserved. For more than 30 years, researchers in the Florist and Nursery Crops Laboratory have introduced many floral crops. Examples include the impatiens that have become the No. 1 bedding plant and longer lasting poinsettias, the leading flowering potted Christmas plant. Today, the lab is well-known for its use of genetic engineering techniques to develop new varieties and pathogen-free plants.

"New-crop development is a high-risk venture that few companies can afford," Lawson says. "Collecting, evaluating, and introducing new floral crops often involves a major investment of time and money. Frequently, results are realized only after many years.

"It all takes time and patience," adds, "but the results are well worth the effort. In fact, survival and expansion of the floral market depends on it."

Keeping Up and Staying Competitive

The floral, nursery, and landscaping industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in agriculture.

According to the Society of American Florists (SAF) in Alexandria, Virginia, potted plants now account for about a sixth of the $12 billion U.S. floral and nursery industry. However, sales of U.S.grown cut flowers have remained flat over the past few years.

A recent Associated Press article outlined how the U.S. flower industry is challenged because of cheap imports, limited selections, and increased competition through traditional outlets.

For U.S. producers to remain competitive in world markets, more new floral crops must be developed. And consumers would benefit by having a wider range of plants to choose from.

"On the surface, the process of developing new crops appears easy," Lawson says. "But the long road from initial selection of promising plant materials to evaluation, production, and marketing is filled with many obstacles and surprises."

To make the process easier, the SAF agreed in 1984 with the American Floral Endowment and several floral and nursery crop companies to support a program for developing new crops. The ARS Floral and Nursery Crops Laboratory was chosen to conduct the research.

The program was designed to increase the range of flower species available to U.S. producers. Its objectives included several broad areas of research:

* Conducting research on commercial production and distribution potential of new species acquired from individuals, researchers, and botanical gardens around the world.

* Collecting and providing growers with detailed information on viable new crop alternatives.

* Promoting new crops with commercial market potential to the industry and public.

* Serving as an information source on new crops for growers and consumers.

Before beginning the new crops program, Lawson worked with Mark Roh and other ARS scientists at the lab to develop a list of candidate plants, based on their investigations of the problems and progress of new crop development in Europe, Asia, and Australia. Over the last 9 years, they imported over 40 different genera of cultivated and uncultivated plants from Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia.

"We assumed that plants commercialized abroad--but not yet introduced into the U.S. market--might also be appealing to U.S. consumers," Roh says.

Early on, the research team realized that many of the plants they acquired would not be "off the shelf" items that could be brought directly into U.S. greenhouses and grown here commercially.

Evaluating each new plant was horticulturist Roh's responsibility. He started propagation on those plants that survived and met the following criteria:

* Showed good display of bloom at first flowering and maintained quality for at least 14 days;

* Were easy to pack and ship; and

* Had a short enough production time to make the crop profitable.

And How Did the Flowers Grow?

"Some of the Australian imports, like kangaroo paw, were easy to propagate. Others, like Cupressus and Geraldton Wax flower, were more difficult to root," Rob says.