Varieties and Aesthetics Past

You’re rummaging in the attic, in your greatgrandma’s steamer trunk, and you come upon a dusty, old packet of garden balsam seeds. An heirloom! This heirloom’s probably more valuable for the picture on the packet than for the seeds, which probably have lost their vitality. You could, though, if you wanted, get your hands on heirloom plants seeds or plants that would grow.

Heirloom plants are those that have been handed down from generation to generation as saved seeds or pieces of stems or roots. The designation heirloom, it should be noted, is not writ in stone; some people define it as varieties more that 50 years old, others bump that up to 100 years, and still others put the mark at 1945, a date after which many hybrid varieties entered the seed trade.

However they’re defined (oh, in England they’re called “heritage” varieties), heirloom varieties well up nostalgia for bygone times not only because they come from those times, but because of their particular qualities. Colors of heirloom flowers, for example, often are soft, as subdued as those in old-fashioned hand colored photos.

Muted colors of heirloom plants are counterbalanced, in many cases, by bold fragrances and flavors. Modern sweet peas may sport flashy and abundant blooms, but are almost scentless as compared with the honey-sweet sprays of heirloom Black Knight sweet peas, introduced in 1898.

Of course, every bold scent or flavor is not for everyone. You might not like the spicy, tart flavor of Spitzenburg apple. No matter: choose from among thousands of other heirloom apple varieties — and flavors. (See, for example, my book Fruit: From the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection.)

Illustration from Fruit: From the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection

Modern varieties of fruits and vegetables generally have been bred for mild flavors that appeal a little to everyone but not strongly to anyone.

I don’t find much notable or outstanding flavor among Fuji, Honeycrisp, Cameo, and other modern apple varieties. Spitzenberg is one of my favorites.

Home grown Spitzenburg

As the doyen of horticulture, Liberty Hyde Bailey, wrote in 1922, “Why do we need so many kinds of apples? Because there are so many folks. A person has a right to gratify his legitimate tastes. . . There is merit in variety itself. It provides more points of contact with life, and leads away from uniformity and monotony.” Problem is that breeding for broader acceptance can lead to monotony.

Basket of various heirloom apples

All this is not to discount the value of hybrid seeds. They may have been bred for pest resistance. Also, if you’re a farmer, you might welcome varieties bred for their ability to store well and stand the rigors of shipping, for their size and bold color, for their concentrated harvest windows, for their widespread adaptability, and for their better response to modern agricultural chemicals and fertilizers.

Then again, heirloom varieties, having been selected over generations in limited eco-regions, might be better adapted to plant challenges in those regions.

Growth Habits

With a more casual growth habit than modern hybrids, heirlooms won’t give the ordered look of a brigade of soldiers when planted en masse. Plant to plant variations of heirloom flowers may be subtle, as in the almost uniform stand of blue flowers from a seed packet of Blue Boy bachelor’s buttons — a variety grown by Thomas Jefferson. Or more dramatic, as in the occasional orange flower popping up among the reds from packet of Gift zinnias, an heirloom variety from Russia. In some styles of garden, a blowsy look is preferred to rigid uniformity.

Golden Bantam corn

Heirloom plants also do not march soldierlike in step. Plants from a packet of Golden Bantam corn, a delectable variety dating back to 1902, ripen over the course of more than a week. But plan on picking over a whole planting of modern Early Sunglow Hybrid corn over just a couple of days or you’ll miss peak flavor. 

Most plants offered in garden centers and through the mail are not heirlooms and will never become one, not even in a hundred years. Plant Snowball Hybrid marigolds or Double Feature Hybrid cucumbers, let a few flowers and fruits mature seeds, then plant those seeds, and what do you get? Not Snowball Hybrid marigolds and Double Feature Hybrid cucumbers.

Hybrid seeds are made by bringing together pollen and egg cells from two specially chosen parents. Unless you or I grow those parents and provide for pollination, we cannot perpetuate hybrid varieties, nor can our children.

And whether hybrids or not, many of today’s plant varieties could not be passed along the generations because they are patented. As such, it is illegal to propagate then distribute them.

(As part of a free trade agreement with the U.S., the Colombian government adopted Law 970 which restricted the cultivation and sale of heirloom seeds in favor of hybrid seeds from multinational corporations! For more, see “9.70 documentary”!)  

Grow a Time Machine

Relatively few heirloom seeds or plants are offered by seed companies and nurseries because more money is to be made on hybrids and patented plants. Although some heirlooms have dedicated regional followings, hybrids and patented varieties get more press coverage, and sell for more to appeal to a wider audience. My old neighbor once told me of a variety of curly kale that was very popular among gardeners where she used to live in southern Delaware. Decades ago, when I lived there, I was introduced to the justifiably popular Dr. Matin pole lima beans which, now that I think of it, I will try to grow here in New York

So do plant some heirlooms and bring a bit of the past into your garden. Pass along some cuttings of your favorite old fruits, trees, shrubs, and perennials to your neighbors and to your children. Save some seeds of favorite old varieties of vegetables and annual flowers, and pass them along too — the Sweet Italia pepper and Shirofumi edamame seeds that I save, for example. You can never tell when they may no longer be available commercially.