While many institutions have staff that dabble in plant breeding, the Chicago Botanic Garden is one of the only gardens to administer a breeding program dedicated to introducing ornamental perennials. A botanic garden possesses a wealth of resources not available to hobbyist breeders and other companies, providing key advantages that aid in cultivar development. Among these resources are staff members that support plant breeding with different fields of expertise, such as horticulture, production, propagation, and landscape design. Other resources include well-maintained breeding beds and greenhouses for crossing plants and growing progenies as well as a plant exploration program that conducts both national and global plant collection trips. Various lab facilities are available through the science department, including equipment and staff that can help with seed cleaning and banking, pollen banking, flow cytometry, and more. Because the Chicago Botanic Garden and its plant introduction program Chicagoland Grows® are non-profits, there is more freedom to work on lesser known genera. This contrasts with traditional industry breeding, which often focuses on well-established genera when introducing new cultivars. Using Baptisia (false wild indigo) as an example, we’ll explore some past breeding conducted at the Chicago Botanic Garden by Dr. Jim Ault and how this breeding will continue moving forward. This will illustrate how ornamental cultivar development is possible without modern genotyping methods and high input costs.
