Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 7654 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2017 dener or any farmers market gardener is looking for,” she says. “Something that grows well, resists disease, has a high yield and looks and tastes good.” The facility continues to develop and evaluate new perennial plants for introduction to the horticulture industry and garden- ers. 2016 proved to be an exciting year, with eight new false indigo (Baptisia) hybrids and two new Phlox hybrids poised for introduction. Three more Phlox hybrids and a compact speed- well (Veronica) were distributed to licensed nurseries around the country for evaluation and propagation in 2017 and 2018. The breeding staff includes Norman Wickett, a conserva- tion scientist specializing in genomics and bioinformatics. As an adjunct professor in the Program of Biological Sciences at Northwestern University, he’s interested in the origin of new genetic material through both endogenous (gene or whole genome duplication) and exogenous (horizontal gene transfer) processes, and the role of these processes in adaptation and diversification in plants, making use of high-throughput (“next generation”) DNA sequencing and bioinformatics to uncover patterns and processes that underlay the acquisition of novel genes or traits. “People breathe a sigh and their shoulders relax and they drop a large degree of their stress within less than a minute upon entering our garden or their own garden.” — Barb Kreski “Fundamental shifts in life history or habitat may have been, at least in part, driven by processes such as horizontal gene transfer (e.g. the integration of fungal genes into the plant genome) or polyploidy, the latter of which creates thousands of new genes,” he says. Evolution of the Brain Shifts in life history — the evolution of insects especially — are turning out to be influenced by plants in ways never imagined. The honeybee is demonstrating how its ability to detect pollen sources controls aggression and helps the insect form