We have turned our scientific attention to Lewisia, a stunning succulent native to California, with the explicit mission to mainstream this plant into the broader US and regional California bedding plant markets.
Moving Lewisia out of the collector’s niche and into volume commercial production requires addressing its historical agronomic weaknesses. Kennan Corporation's active breeding program is built upon four pillars of innovation:
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Predictable Novel Colors: Expanding the color palette with stable, reproducible seed.
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Vibrant Visual Patterns: Capitalizing on Lewisia’s unique pigmentation system to deliver vibrant, novel petal patterns that pop at retail.
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Accelerated Flowering: Selecting for early, prolific, and months-long flowering windows
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Enhanced Climate Adaptation: Breeding heat tolerance and superior crown rot resistance to withstand diverse regional climates.
Discover how Kennan Corporation is leveraging decades of genetic expertise to grow the future of Lewisia. Contact our team today.
KENNAN CORPORATION:
BREEDING A BETTER LEWISIA
Lewisia cotyledon, commonly known as Siskiyou Lewisia, or Cliffmaids, is a striking perennial native to the rocky cliffs of California and southern Oregon. Long prized by native plant enthusiasts for rock gardens, Lewisia is ready for its moment in the spotlight. While highly developed by elite breeders in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, active breeding programs remain virtually untapped in the US market, offering a significant first-mover advantage for domestic companies.
Why Lewisia Stands Out
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Rare, Vibrant Colors: Unlike most ornamental flowers colored by anthocyanins, Lewisia produces betalain pigments. This unique chemistry creates a vivid, distinctive color palette.
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Diverse Varieties: Discover an array of flower shapes, varied petal counts, unique flower patterns, inflorescence types, and beautiful year-round foliage.
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Global Breeding, Local Roots: Lewisia also displays an array of flower types varying in petal number, inflorescence type, flower patterns, and variations in foliage that make plants attractive even during non-blooming periods.
Easy Care & Sustainability
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Water-Wise Choice: With its thick, succulent-like leaves, Lewisia offers high drought tolerance making it perfect for sustainable, low-water landscaping.
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Long-Lasting Blooms: Enjoy periodic, colorful blooms from March through October.
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Versatile Growth: Cultivate it as a fast-flowering annual or a reliable hardy perennial.
ABOUT LEWISIA
Solids, eyes, venation, and stripes
Vibrant patterns
Steps in breeding lewisia
Process
Unique flower color chemistry
Novel colors
PLANT BREEDING
OUR EXPERIENCE
Kennan Corporation brings over 40 years of advanced genetic improvement and agricultural scaling to the commercial floriculture industry.
Before re-focusing our expertise on ornamental breeding, Kennan Corporation was the only private company in the United States to maintain genetics and breeding programs for both rice (Oryza sativa) and wild rice (Zizania palustris / Zizania aquatica).
Since entering the wild rice industry in 1980 and the rice industry in 1998, we have innovated across the entire agricultural supply chain:
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Rice Genetics: Developed advanced germplasm and varieties for over 30 years for a large multinational rice seed handler, grower, processor-marketer.
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Wild Rice Scaling: Operated at scale in wild rice as a breeder, planting seed producer, commercial grower, processor, and marketer.
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Hybrid Innovation: Successfully developed and managed protected, proprietary hybrid wild rice genetics through trade secret and utility patents.
After selling our wild rice assets in 2015 and downsizing our rice activity in 2020, we transitioned our considerable knowledge of crop genetics and seed maintenance into the specialty ornamental trade.
ABOUT US
Owner and Geneticist
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BS chemistry (1968), MS Agronomy (1974), PhD Genetics (1976)
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1976 --1984: University of California faculty in plant breeding and genetics
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1980 -- 2015: Wild rice breeding and seed technology
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1990 -- 2020: Rice breeding and varietal development
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2020 -- present: Lewisia breeding and varietal development
Owner and Business Manager
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1975 -- BA History, University of California, Davis
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1975 -- 1986 Operations Branch Manager, Bank of America
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1986 -- 2015: Business Manager, logistics, inside sales - wild rice
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2015 -- 2020: Business Manager - Rice
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2020 -- present: Business Manager - Lewisia