Story: Kings Park Breeding Practices
Episode: 8
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Air Date: 10th October 2020

Kings Park’s breeding program is delivering new and exciting plants in Australia and across the globe. Trevor chats to the program’s Senior Plant Breeder, Digby Grows, about their remarkable work.

• When it comes to waxflowers, the program is working on new varieties that are suitable for cut flowers and home gardens.
• The program has been breeding kangaroo paws since 2007 and has every colour imaginable, from white to black, blue, green, pink and yellow.
• There are many techniques used for plant breeding, and transferring pollen is one that they use at Kings Park.
• Each variety is labelled with a breeding number and the date to keep track of its complete breeding history.
• Like the waxflower, the program is breeding new varieties of boronia for cut flowers and home gardens.
• Kings Park is renowned for working on plants that have recalcitrant seeds, like boronia, which are difficult to germinate.
• The only way to get hybrids from these seeds to germinate is by taking the embryo out of the seed and growing it in tissue culture.