We have propagated and cultivated over a million plants on the same farm during the past 50 years. Sometimes, there are original, unique, and spontaneous genetic variations within the general plant population. We routinely monitor for these types of changes and when we find them, the plants are pulled out of production, documented, and placed in special beds for observation.

These special, chosen few are then evaluated thoroughly for many years over multiple criteria like hardiness, color, growth rate, and shape. Some plants will distinguish themselves due to any number or combination of characteristics, but to be selected for production, they must exhibit strong, stable genetics in all areas.

The challenge of Box Blight created a new hurdle for all boxwood varieties worldwide. It demanded a new criterion for any boxwood variety considered for market: disease resistance.

Sometimes, the selected plants earn great marks, sometimes they don’t.

If a plant proves stability across all categories, we consider mass production to introduce it to market. Very few plants make it to this stage so the ones that do are exceptional.

Producing mass quantities of new varieties with desirable features and strong genetics creates more opportunities. When these exceptional plants produce variations, the process begins again as the new specimens are pulled from production, placed in the observation beds, and evaluated. We look for selections that retain preferred features from the parent plant, but offer genetically stable changes in characteristics such as color, shape, or growth rate. These new combinations offer exciting options within a plant line.

It is a long road between the discovery of an improved selection and the market. The plants that make it are truly one in a million.