Pensive Tuesday: How Are We Changing Them?

It's hard to believe this little guy is the direct descendant of the mighty wolf. Grrr....

(photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Yorkies are everywhere here. In my neck of the woods, even Yorkies have pet Yorkies. They are absolutely adorable, from the human standpoint. I have no idea what wolves think of them, if they think of them at all.

Now many of us are "domesticating" our favorite plant species as well. Think of roses old and new. How have they changed? Here's the current state of a domesticated Lithops:

As we grow and develop our Lithops and other favorite plants, how are we changing them to make them more desirable and attractive to ourselves (humans)? I do think they are becoming more tolerant of excess water. That's because the only ones to survive from the nursery to the big box store to our houses are usually capable of dealing with a lot of excess watering. The others all rot away before they can be sold. And of course, a lot of them are well-watered once they get to a home as well. So those of us who cultivate Lithops from seeds from our own collections may be encouraging the more water-tolerant versions. Who knows?

And I know I love colors and patterns! I notice Lithops growers have grown some amazing cultivars with beautiful colors and new, unusual patterns. This has happened with most of the plant species we domesticate. Think tulips. New colors and more variegation, that's what we generally go for as we domesticate.

(watercolor "Seashore Abstract" MR 2012)

So my guess for Lithops would be, 50 years from now, we'll see more water-tolerant, colorfully patterned Lithops than what we see now. New colors not seen in nature. And of course, I'm not even getting near the topic of Genetic Engineering in the Cozy Home Garage Lab-- I'm just not there yet.... What do you all think?