Many dwarf plants are very practical. The many different dwarf cultivars (cultivated varieties) of false cypress that are grown for their interesting forms, textures and foliar colors are much more proportionate to home gardens than similar specie in the wild, which are big enough to get harvested for timber. Oranges are easier to reach on dwarf trees than on standard trees, which get as big as shade trees.

However, not all plants should be bred to be dwarfs. Dwarf Southern magnolias certainly have their appeal for tight spots, but do not make as much shade as larger trees do. Compact cultivars of crape myrtles (although not actually dwarfs) take too much time to grow above truck traffic to be practical as street trees.

Many classic annuals and perennials are likewise bred to be too compact to be as practical as they were in the past. Annie of Annie’s Annuals in Richmond refers to this all too common practice as ‘boinkification’. It makes many blooming plants more marketable and resilient to shipping and installation, but deprives them of their natural form and elegance.

Short annuals and perennials certainly have their place. Lobelia, sweet alyssum, dwarf marigolds and petunias are fine along walkways and in pots with other larger plants. They also work well as bedding plants for a profusion of color. Yet, there is all too often too much of a good thing. Some flower beds are simply so big and plain, that it would be just as colorful to paint an area orange instead of planting so many marigolds.

Taller flowering annuals like nicotiana (flowering tobacco), cosmos and zinnias add depth behind lower growing annuals. Dahlias are perennials that can accomplish the same thing. Some of the older and less common varieties of familiar bedding plants that have not been so boinkified also work well. There are even petunias that can get two feet tall and wide! These taller plants also provide cut flowers; which is something that boinky plants are not so good at.

Boinkification also compromises fragrance and aroma. Bedding dianthus have almost no fragrance at all; unlike the old fashioned dianthus and carnations that had such distinctive spicy fragrance. Modern zonal geraniums are more colorful than classic varieties, but their foliage is not quite as aromatic.

Not only does increased foliar density of boinky plants promote the proliferation of many diseases and pests; but the genetic violations necessary for boinkification interfere with resistance to diseases and pests!