Scarlet Fire Brackets.jpg
The Scarlet Fire dogwood. (Rutgers University)
Imagine having to wait five years to see what color your child's eyes would be.
That was the situation faced by Rutgers University plant biologists who were intent on breeding a deep pink dogwood tree in time for the university's 250th anniversary.
For years they'd been meticulously cross-breeding dogwoods with the goal of producing a hardy, fast-growing plant with blossoms of deep pink - a shade of pink that wouldn't exist in nature without man's help.
Young dogwood trees usually take five years to produce blossoms, which means the average horticulturalist will see only a handful of "generations" during a career. They are planted and monitored in one of Cook College's nurseries.
There were low expectations for the trees in Row 11, as the plants were only three years old, recalled Tom Molnar, a plant biologist with the Rutgers New Jersey Agriculural Experiment Station.
But dogwood tree "1121" - Row 11, Tree 21 - had different plans.
"It flowered in the third year, earlier than all its brothers and sisters," Molnar said. "The color was incredible. It blew us away. We couldn't even believe it was a dogwood."
They named it Scarlet Fire - Scarlet in honor of Rutgers, and Fire for the intensity of its color.
It joins the Rutgers Scarlet strawberry and the Rutgers 250 heirloom tomato as new plant strains bred to celebrate Rutgers' 250th anniversary. The university's role as a land grant college means some of its research helps support agriculture.
The Scarlet Fire fills a landscaping void that occurred when disease and insect infestations ravaged the colorful dogwoods that used to be abundant in this region. Asian dogwoods had proved to be hardier, but their coloring was pink was pale.
Molnar credits his predecessor, Elwin Orton, with beginning a decades' long quest for a deep pink version. When Tree 1121 produced its startling flowers, Molnar called Orton, then retired, with the news.
The two men arranged to meet at the nursery so Molnar could lead him to the right tree, but by the time they connected, so unusual was the tree that Orton had found it on his own.
"I was very lucky," Molnar said of his chance to continue Orton's obsession. "He gave me all these 'parents' to work with through his decades of work."
Thousands of trees were bred as part of that quest. Plant biologists would select a tree with strongly pink blossoms, then cover its flowers with tiny "baggies" to keep beetles, bees or the wind from depositing errant pollen. At the appropriate time, the baggie was removed and the flower hand-pollinated with pollen from a second tree.
Young dogwood trees usually take five years to produce blossoms, which means the average horticulturalist will see only a handful of "generations" during a career.
He gives most of the credit to Orton, saying, "He did all the hard work. I just did the easy work."
Orton, who just turned 87, insists the Scarlet Fire should be considered Molnar's discovery, not his. His 48 years at Rutgers was just part of the slow progress that underpins plant breeding.
"It's like climbing a ladder - each one on the shoulders on the guy below him," he said.
The plant was sold in limited quantities last year, but will be more widely available through mail-order nurseries in 2017, including Wayside Gardens and Spring Hill Nursery.
Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.