Astilbe Valery Cultivar Compact Habit Red-Purple Flowers

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Solution Overview

Problem

There is a need for new compact and sturdy Astilbe cultivars with attractive flowers that can reproduce true to type and perform well in various environmental conditions.

Innovation Solution

The development of the Astilbe chinensis cultivar 'Valery', which exhibits a compact, upright habit, strong dark green foliage, and red-purple flowers, achieved through open-pollination and subsequent asexual reproduction by division, distinguishing it from other cultivars like 'Vision in Red' in terms of plant height and flower coloration.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If open-pollination breeding is used to create new Astilbe cultivars, then genetic diversity and novel traits are improved, but breeding time and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegenetic diversityVSAvoidbreeding time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by conducting open-pollination breeding in advance to generate diverse progeny, then selecting superior individuals. This allows genetic diversity to be established beforehand, followed by efficient selection and asexual propagation to fix desirable traits, thereby reducing overall breeding time while maintaining genetic diversity benefits

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Stability of the object's composition

If asexual reproduction by division is used, then true-to-type reproduction is improved, but propagation speed may be limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetrue-to-type reproductionVSAvoidpropagation speed

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses asexual reproduction by division as a copying mechanism to produce genetically identical copies of the selected superior plants. This ensures true-to-type reproduction of desirable traits while maintaining genetic stability across generations, allowing reliable propagation of the cultivated variety

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Volume of moving object

If compact plant habit is selected, then space efficiency is improved, but plant vigor and flowering capacity may be reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplant sizeVSAvoidflowering capacity

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of moving objectVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by selecting plants that exhibit compact overall habit while maintaining vigorous local growth characteristics in the flowering stems and foliage. This allows the plant to occupy less space overall while still producing abundant flowers and healthy foliage, resolving the contradiction between compact size and flowering capacity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

4Ease of manufacture

If dark green foliage is selected, then aesthetic appeal is improved, but susceptibility to pests and diseases may increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaesthetic appealVSAvoidpest and disease susceptibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent converts the potential harm of dark green foliage's increased susceptibility to pests and diseases by selecting plants that exhibit both the desired dark green coloration and inherent resistance traits. The breeding process identifies individuals where the aesthetic trait does not compromise health, effectively converting a potential weakness into a beneficial combination of traits

Inventive Principle:

Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

Data Source

PatentUSPP19855P2Astilbe plant named 'Valery'

Publication Date: 2009.03.24 MAATSCHAP HOLTMAAT

AI summary

A new and distinct cultivar of Astilbe plant named ‘Valery’, characterized by its compact, upright and sturdy plant habit; strong and healthy dark green-colored foliage; freely flowering habit; red purple-colored flowers arranged on thick flowering stems; and good garden performance.