Cultivar Preservation
Cultivar Preservation
Unlike species which can be multiplied by seed, cultivars must be maintained by growing from cuttings, or clones. So that these beautiful and historic cultivars are not lost forever, the Cultivar Preservation Committee, in collaboration with the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Begonia Collection, collects cuttings of nearly-lost cultivars to grow, multiply, and share those cultivars back to the industry and the members of the American Begonia Society.
A collection of rhizomatous cultivars in a Florida landscape | Photo: Rick Schoellhorn
A bench of rhizomatous seedlings undergoing evaluation before being released by Brad Thompson. | Photo: Brad Thompson
Each year we focus on a given hybridizer(s) and work to locate the key cultivars they created by searching our personal collections and our members’ gardens. For more information on lists of cultivars and the people who created them visit the Finding Lost Cultivars page. If you have questions about a new cultivar, an old cultivar in your collection, or if you just want to help in the detective work to find lost cultivars, contact the Cultivar Preservation Committee and let’s work together!
You can learn more about Begonia species conservation and the issues via the resources the American Begonia Society works with and also visit the Save Our Species page to see how American Begonia Society members are helping to conserve endangered species.
