Trial and error can help garden provide information

By Angela O'Callaghan

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 | midnight

When horticultural scientists want to determine which plants among many will meet a particular need — cultural survival, flower color, fruit taste, or vegetable nutritional content, among other qualities — they often perform what are called “variety trials.”

These are usually carefully controlled studies that weigh the benefits and drawbacks of different plants grown under identical conditions.

These conditions are generally arranged in university settings, or using the resources of a plant breeding company.

This permits researchers to look at results of the studies and determine what desirable characteristics are present, and what characteristics make a plant more or less promising candidate for later use.

Here in Southern Nevada, the difficult climate can lead people to select a few “tried and true” stalwarts, and these plants appear in many gardens and landscapes. This is not to say that lantana, Texas Ranger, red yucca and oleander are not wonderful.

Similarly, vegetable gardens are often restricted to the delicious favorites: early girl or cherry tomatoes, carrots, miscellaneous greens.

Still, there is a surprising number of plants that will survive this environment, and it would be good to include them as we expand our horticultural palette. Too many residents complain that all the yards around town look alike, and that desert landscaping is ultimately boring. These may or may not be the people who claim it is impossible to garden here.

That is, of course, far from the truth.

Many people in this part of the world are growing plants successfully, and have even made their gardens individual statements. By trial and error, they have discovered plants that grow and produce beautiful leaves and flowers or delicious fruits.

This is a kind of variety trial, and although it is not following the classic scientific method, it can be a source of useful and potentially important information.

For this reason, I am turning the tables on readers this week. Usually, I will write about some horticultural topic that I hope will help gardeners to recognize a problem or to improve their gardening efforts.

If you are among those people who have found something unexpected that has succeeded here in your Mojave garden, then you can help your neighbors.

I would like to hear from those who have been able to grow an unusual garden plant (edible or not) without heroic measures — without a greenhouse, or supplemental heating or chilling. I am also asking for information on different varieties of familiar plants – for instance, a surprisingly good heirloom tomato, an unusual color of carrot – that are at least as successful as the more common varieties.

This is the kind of information that is hard to find in the usual reference materials. It might be useful for me as I will offer my Growing Vegetables class again on Aug. 29. You can e-mail me your responses at this paper. Thank you for helping.

­Angela O’Callaghan is the area specialist in social horticulture for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached c/o the Home News, 2275 Corporate Circle, Suite 300, Henderson, NV 89074, or [email protected].