Novel Begonia Flower Developed in Canada

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WHITECOURT, Alta. -

Horticulturalist Cathy Knoblauch just might have the Holy Grail of the plant world: a new breed of begonia that's attracting worldwide attention.

The last successful cross-breeding of a begonia occurred in the 1950s, and Knoblauch believes her work in microbiology and plant genes is a once-in-a-century event.

"It's not just another blue tulip, " Knoblauch says. "When people see new plants, that's when you have a leading market edge."
So far, her research has been highly secretand the public won't get to see what is so brilliant about this new begonia for at least another year.

After more testing and granting of patents, Knoblauch's new flowers could be on the market by next fall or spring 2009.

The Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation has recognized Knoblauch's work with thousands of dollars in grants over the last few years.

"It is the most exciting breeding project we have ever supported in Canada," says Peggy Walsh Craig, executive director of the Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation for the past 16 years. "Her work has great, screaming potential."

Knoblauch, who has operated McLeod Valley Greenhouse in Whitecourt, Alta., with her husband Grant since 1979, has drawn worldwide attention to her begonia research.

This week, eight international growers from Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States have trekked to Knoblauch's greenhouse to witness her work on begonias first-hand.

To date, her new flower meets the three criteria for a plant patent: distinct, uniform and stable.

"That's what the industry wants so you can make millions and millions of the same flower," Knoblauch said.

This new cross-breed is a begonia that never existed before, she says. She will only go so far as to say her work involves pollination and temperature variants to arrive at a new variety within the begonia genus.

"There are a lot of jokes about sex and breeders. But this is what it's all about," Knoblauch says.

The plant foundation registers intellectual property rights on behalf of Canadian growers. One Canadian flower expert told Craig that Knoblauch's begonias represent "the single most promising (plant) introduction he will work on in his lifetime."

The need for secrecy in describing the new flower is to protect Knoblauch's floral invention and patent application.

Photos or detailed descriptions could lead to theft of Knoblauch's intellectual property before it is registered. Visitors to her greenhouse are required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

"In floriculture, market information is quite guarded," Craig says of the fierce nature of global competition and cloak-and-dagger precautions. "The royalties on plants are just like the royalties on a new song or a book."

Knoblauch said it will be years before she realizes gains from her work. But she adds: "Pennies per flower are precious."

The real excitement is developing a new flower in Canada that has potential for worldwide appeal.

Knoblauch would like to see her new flowers return revenues that will support creation of a centre for research into new varieties, which would boost Canada's presence in international floriculture circles.

"Consumers are always looking for something new," Knoblauch says. "And there's not much new in the plant world, because they say it's all been done before."

Knoblauch comes by her flowering interests naturally. Her parents owned greenhouses in her native Dawson Creek, B.C., and her family got into the business and science of plants in the mid-1800s. She still has her grandfather's brass microscope.

In addition to the begonias, Knoblauch has done promising work in petunias by isolating the "jumping gene" that makes some petunia petals multicoloured, with stripes and veins of pink and purple mixing with white and red.

That early research in 1998 led Knoblauch to the begonia results she is showcasing to select breeders today.

She has also developed an organic insecticide that is on the verge of commercialization with the Alberta Research Council.

Scientist Mohyuddin Mirza, a greenhouse industry specialist with Alberta Agriculture, has encouraged Knoblauch's work. He's impressed by the results.

"She has really developed new varieties of begonias and petunias, a next-generation variety of flowers," he said. "It's quite a story that an ordinary Albertan can do such a thing."

Knoblauch considers the thousands of hours of work and nurturing her plants to be rewarding, just to see new creations blossom and come to life.

"Breeders are a little eccentric," she says.