Heirloom

Why Heirloom Plants?

At Corn Lily Garden we strive to offer the best assortment of unique and delicious Heirloom and Open Pollinated plant varieties.

An Heirloom plant is defined as an open pollinated variety that was developed at least 50 years ago.

Open pollinated means that, unless the flower is cross pollinated by another variety, the seeds from that plant will grow into a plant of the same variety. For example if I isolate the blossoms and save seeds from a Wapsipinicon Peach tomato plant, those seeds will produce the same type of plants with the same type of fruits. The resulting plants would be consistent with the parents and each other and still be a Wapsipinicon Peach tomato.

The opposite of an open pollinated plant is a hybrid. Hybrids are created by cross pollinating two different varieties to get a combination of the two. If seeds are saved from the hybrid fruit the resulting new plants could have many different variations of characteristics from the original two varieties. They would not be consistent.

By definition all Heirlooms are open pollinated, but not all open pollinated plants are Herilooms.

But still, why Heirloom Plants? Most modern vegetables were bred to be grown commercially and were selected for traits such as shelf life and uniform appearance. Traits such as flavor and localized adaptations were bred out. Heirloom varieties that have been preserved through history offer benefits such as they may be adapted to a region's growing conditions. They often have richer flavors. They may be beautiful colors. There is usually a unique story behind how the variety was developed and passed on through the years.

These plants are a way to taste a part of history.