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With Dick Robinson
I met a gardener recently, who, for years, has saved his own seed from a pea; he said it was the variety "Autocrat," and that it was the same as the original pea that he first obtained in 1939. Now this is not unusual, peas, when in bloom, do tend to remain pure genetically, especially if grown away from other peas. "Autocrat" is a tall pea reaching up to five feet in a wet summer. It was a variety that received the RHS Award of Merit way back in 1932, so just when it first came on the market I do not know.
This news made me think about seed saving generally, especially the vegetables. F1 and F11 varieties are produced by growers from selected parents and it's not good practice to save seeds from these; neither is it from the cabbage family. I once allowed some parsnips to seed and tried to grow these the following year, with very poor results, so don't bother to try. Carrots and beetroot too, all tend to become cross-pollinated with other plants in their families and the results are disappointing. Seed can be saved from the following veg: beans, peas, onions, leeks, marrows, cucumbers, tomatoes and even lettuce but, of course, one never knows if a true replica will emerge: still it's an interesting hobby. I recall visiting a certain nursery in Lancashire where prize onions were being grown for seed in a glasshouse; lots of blue bottle flies were introduced to assist with pollination, what a sight!! The RHS had a large seed collecting department when I was working at Wisley: flowers, trees, shrubs, glasshouse and alpine seeds were saved, packeted and sent to botanical gardens throughout the world, and to fellows of the Society.
Home gardeners can save flower seeds; again, they may be hybrids and not even produce copies of the originals, but, in a flower garden, it may not be important. It's different for the specialist who needs to grow true named varieties; nature is unpredictable and may even produce a winner for some lucky grower.
Seeds are expensive so why not have a go? Do not use plastic pack
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