Interesting article about how insects drive evolution in plants.
Plants were grown either with or without insecticide. "Plant
populations began to diverge significantly in response to insect
attack in as few as three to four generations." For annual
plants, a generation is one year. Plants evolved to be less
tasty to the insects, and evolve to have bloom times that did
not correspond to the insects' preferred bloom times. The
authors also noted other changes in the plant plots, such as
competitor plants were more successful in the insecticide-
treated plots. What this means to the home gardener (my
interpretation) is that we should avoid pesticides, and we
should feel encouraged to save seeds for our favorite flowers
and vegetables. That way, we harness evolution to create plants
that are locally adapted and resist local predators. That's a
complete opposite to buying plants and seeds from
megacorporations and big box stores, who ship nation-wide and
whose plants are not locally adapted. I don't think this is