frost tolerant canola

[seedsman]

I was walking in a wheat stubble field today. There were quite a few volunteer canola plants, all about knee high, with at least 30 flowers and quite a few pods! When do you think these plants germinated? Did they overwinter? Should I save the seed and use it to develop a new strain of frost tolerant canola?

[NeilS]

In our area we had a lot of volunteer canola that germinated last fall and survived the winter to grow this spring. It was kind of odd to see canola in bloom in April.

[NeilS]

Seedsman

To adress your questins directly:

They probably germinated last fall. That is the only way they could be in bloom by now.

They certainly did overwinter.

You might be well served to collect the seeds. This may be one avenue for a selection process that leads to a better winter canola variety. But I caution you to not get too hopefull. This may go nowhere, but then again, it might! History is replete with examples of accomplishments based on a chance taken.