hUNGARiAN AGRicUltURAl RESEARch

Among our registered varieties
that can adapt well to extreme
weather, several varieties of Gaillardia
pulchella is also worthy of note.
In addition to their drought tolerance,
they – contrary to the previously
used varieties widespread in
home gardens – are suitable for
flower beds due also to their round
shape and great flower mass. Red,
yellow and bicolour varieties were
created, which have gained international
recognition as well.
Diverse breeding practices
The most important factor is the
native area (original place of growth)
of the breeding material. The use of
the right breeding material has often
proved to be successful for the
purposes of improving drought
tolerance of Hungarian varieties,
such as in the case of Alcea biennis
growing wild in Hungary or
Rudbeckia hirta indigenous in the
North American prairies.
In many cases, for instance in
those of Rudbeckia hirta and
Cosmos sulphureus, the method of
polyploidization was effective.
Varieties improved this way show
increased tolerance to various stress
factors (heat, drought, extreme
cold) and, at the same time, comply
with the other main objective of
breeding: they flower for a longer
time, which is attributable also to
their more vigorous character being
inherent in polyploids.
Gaillardia pulchella
Polyploid varieties of plants
that are not susceptible to frost
damage (Rudbeckia) can stand
extreme cold better and reliably
overwinter, resulting in safer seed
propagation due to the early seed
maturing in the second year.
The third method applies the
selection of more robust plants in
the population as their regeneration
after temporary stress events,
mainly droughty periods, is always
superior to that of the plants with
average development.
This procedure was especially
useful for Tagetes patula. The
varieties bred have more branches
and, therefore, produce more
flowers than the previously
common foreign varieties selected
for earliness. In addition, the
flowering of all the early maturing
foreign varieties lasts shorter.
The Hungarian varieties can be
complemented with foreign
varieties that are unable to
demonstrate their advantage of
being tolerant to drought and
flowering continuously in places
with more humid, cooler climate.
Such varieties include those of
Verbena rigida, Verbena bonariensis,
Senecio cineraria, Salvia
farinacea and Zinnia linearis which
can tolerate extreme climatic
conditions well and bears flowers
in colours that varieties of other
species bred in Hungary lack, for
instance blue and blue-violet
providing nice harmony with the
yellow and orange blooms of
Rudbeckia, Tagetes, Tithonia or
Cosmos sulphureus.
In conclusion, it can be stated
that one of the most reliable yet
previously less often applied
approaches to the adaptation to
extreme climatic conditions is the
development of varieties suitable
for such circumstances by plant
breeding practices. Such breeding
programmes are most practical to
be carried out at places with
extreme weather conditions, or
involving plants autochthonous in
areas with such climate.
Varieties developed under
various climatic conditions can
also be tested in regions with
extreme weather i.e. areas with
continental climate, which has
almost always been neglected
under the pressure of continuous
innovation typical to our age. Our
examinations demonstrated that
ornamentals delightful under
extreme weather conditions always
perform really well also in areas
with more uniform climate.
By reason of the information
contained herein, breeding and
variety examination of ornamental
plants in Hungary is still going to
play an important role in the future
in terms of developing plants
adaptable to the unpredictable
changes in the climate.
The institute has been breeding
ornamental – primarily annual –
plant varieties since 1950.
Hungarian Agricultural Research 2009/3–4 7