Open Source vs. Proprietary Plants — Can People “Own” Plants?

Yes, they can, they do and they want to own even more.   You can, but it’s complex and expensive.  So mostly the people who own plants are huge agricultural companies. They control the plant– you’ve heard about this with genetic modification no doubt, but it sure happens in the flower world, too.  It used to not be this way: a seminal case that changed that was led by a seed company right here in South Carolina, (more about it in Deep Rooted Wisdom).

Rogues like me hold on to the old ways;  I just like to get new plants, to grow new plants, and if I’m trying to sell them, to be the first to market.   But then I love to hear stories of people who shared those plants with friends.  There’s a growing movement of scientific thinking about the humanistic needs, the rewards of sharing plants freely, too.    You can read more about them on the NPR blog ‘The Salt’.  Do it.  Let this be your lesson for the day:  it’s a tremendous article.

Now for one of the plants that I’ve been distributing this year.   I’ve sold it, I’ve given it away, and I have LOTS of people sending photos this month to say that it is a killer color for a crinum lily.  A crinum breeder in Florida developed this recently.  He gave it away.  Shared it, passed it along.  Old School.

Crinum ‘Infusion’, besides being a killer color, has the most seductive, tropical, powdery fragrance of any crinum.  We’ve had a vase of cut flowers on the back porch for a week and you can still smell them– even from inside the kitchen.

Plant them now, get them established before fall, and you’ll have your own ‘Infusion’ flowers next summer.    We put them on sale, half price ’til Monday only.  Order Here.