Over the past century, many new varieties of plants have been created by agricultural science. Called hybrid plants, opens a new window, they are manually cross-pollinated from different parent plants to have the best traits of both. Widely marketed hybrids became the most popular commercial cultivars in the 20th century. This has caused a significant in the genetic diversity of crops, giving foods much more standardized tastes and making the agricultural system more dependent on the survival of fewer varieties of plants. You can make a positive change by choosing to grow heirloom plants. These older, open-pollinated cultivars offer diverse flavors, are suited to specific climates, and can propagate themselves. CRRL’s garden book collection is here for you, and so is our Seed Library, opens a new window, where you can pick up and donate seeds from heirloom plants.
Learn about and grow heirloom plants with advice (and seeds) from CRRL:
Advantages of Heirloom Plants
Heirloom species offer several advantages over the commercial hybrid cultivars more usually seen in stores. Heirlooms were often bred, opens a new window for local consumption, and many gardeners prefer their flavors to hybrids', which are often bred instead for disease resistance, larger yields, and ability to be shipped and stored easily. Heirloom plants may be better suited to the climate, opens a new window of a particular area than manually pollinated hybrids, and their seeds can be easily saved and planted next season, unlike many modern hybrids. Since hybrids are manually pollinated from two different varieties of plants, they are unlikely to grow true to seed, opens a new window (i.e. exhibit the same qualities as their parent plant). They may have some qualities of both parent plants, be different from both parents, or be sterile and never grow.
Heirloom seeds may also be less expensive, opens a new window than some hybrids; you can save on the upfront cost by being part of a seed exchange, and you won’t have to buy another batch next year, as you are growing your own. Finally, heirloom plants are unique cultivars that are different from the hybrids and GMO crops typically used in commercial agriculture. GMO crops have been genetically modified (as opposed to selectively bred) and have been used in US agriculture since 1996. GMO crops, opens a new window are typically modified to be more resistant to pesticides, insects, and fungal infection. Though GMO crops are useful for large farms, their patents, opens a new window make them too expensive for most hobby gardeners, and the crops they grow may have a less unique taste than heirlooms. Each heirloom cultivar has a distinct story to it, and growing heirloom plants preserves the genetic diversity, opens a new window in a given plant species. By growing heirlooms, you’re giving plants a greater capacity to adapt and survive with an expanded gene pool.
Types of Heirloom Plants
Heirlooms are available for a number of different food crops you can grow in your backyard. Among common food plants, tomatoes are notable for having numerous heirloom seed types available. Many farms in Virginia grow their own varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Farms in Loudoun, opens a new window, Hanover, opens a new window, Mineral, opens a new window (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, opens a new window is based there), and elsewhere produce seeds of tomato cultivars with distinct shapes, sizes, and tastes. Virginia is considered a good state for growing tomatoes because of its sandy and slightly acidic soil, opens a new window, and the list, opens a new window of heirloom tomato varieties to try is very long. Not all of these heirlooms are available in Virginia, but you can find many of them in local farmers’ markets and farms, and you may buy seeds there or online at vendors such as rareseeds.com, opens a new window and seedsavers.org, opens a new window.
A few of the other crops with notable heirloom varieties are rice, opens a new window, lettuce, opens a new window, carrots, opens a new window, corn, opens a new window, and beans. But food crops are not the only kinds of plants available as heirlooms! Many flowers, opens a new window are also available as heirlooms. Some popular flowers available as heirlooms include roses, chrysanthemums, zinnias, marigolds, and hollyhocks.
When selecting heirloom plants to grow, it’s important to take into account that there is a major difference between how heirlooms and modern hybrids were bred. Heirlooms tended to be grown in certain regions over centuries, rather than being intentionally selected for optimal qualities as modern hybrids are. For example, the Cherokee Purple Tomato, opens a new window is an heirloom tomato that typically grows at temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s best to select heirlooms that have a history of growing well in a region’s climate. A good way to check this is to look at an area's hardiness zone on USDA’s map, opens a new window. The map is based on the average minimum temperature in an area, which determines the types of plants likely to survive. According to the most recent, opens a new window hardiness map, the western half of the Fredericksburg area is in Zone 7a (0-5 degrees Fahrenheit), and the eastern half is in Zone 7b (5-10 degrees Fahrenheit). This reflects climate change from the time earlier hardiness maps were taken; in the 2012 map, all of the Fredericksburg area was Zone 7a. Take your hardiness zone into account, and choose which heirloom plants to grow in your garden accordingly.
The Global Seed Vault: A Natural Treasury
In Svalbard, Norway, a powerful resource for preserving heirloom crops has been built. The Global Seed Vault, opens a new window is a massive warehouse cut deep inside an icy, high sandstone mountain. Permafrost keeps the site’s temperature low enough to preserve the seeds, and the site’s elevation is high enough that it will not be threatened by rising seas. Genetically modified and hybrid seeds are prevented, opens a new window from being stored in the vault in order to preserve as many different heirloom crop strains as possible. First opened in 2008, the Global Seed Vault now holds over 6,000, opens a new window varieties of plant seeds from around the world. The Seed Vault is capable of preserving seeds for hundreds, opens a new window of years and will be essential for preserving heirloom crops long into the future.
Heirloom Seeds at the Library
You don’t need to go all the way to the Arctic Circle to find and preserve heirloom plants. You can do it through CRRL with our Seed Library, opens a new window! The Seed Library allows you to donate non-hybrid heirloom seeds to share with our community. You can donate both perennials and herbs and can borrow up to 10 seed packets at a time to grow yourself. Seed Saving for Beginners, opens a new window provides some instructions on how to grow and save seeds from your heirloom plants. To use the Seed Library, visit Fredericksburg Branch, opens a new window and go to the 3rd floor; if you are donating seeds for use, make sure they are in a packet clearly labeled with the plant species, variety, and year they were harvested. For an online intro to our Seed Library, view the Lunch & Learn, opens a new window event on February 28, 2025; past Lunch & Learn events are archived for later viewing here., opens a new window
To learn more about gardening, visit Downtown Greens, opens a new window in Fredericksburg. Downtown Greens is a park/garden that offers regular events on topics related to gardening, birdwatching, yard care, and more. On the first Tuesday of every month, Downtown Greens does a Gardening Workshop at CRRL’s Fredericksburg Branch from 10 to 11 am. The Master Gardeners Association of the Central Rappahannock Area, opens a new window also visits CRRL’s branches to answer gardening questions from the community. You can find all sorts of gardening tips and information about heirloom plants at these and other gardening events, opens a new window held in our branches. Be sure to check out our books on heirloom plants, too. Learn and grow in our community with CRRL.
