19 May 2010

Variegated weeds

Virtually all variegated plants on the market are found as chance mutations in a garden or nursery -- so I always keep my eye out for leaves that look different on the off chance that I'll find something exciting.

This past weekend I found not one but TWO variegated plants in my yard. Both weeds, sadly, but still, cool all the same.

This variegated queen anne's lace (Daucus carota) shown here against its plain green neighbors, is actually quite pretty, I think. Sadly, it is a biennial, so the only way to propagate it would be by seed, and this type of variegation is virtually certain not to come true from seed.


This narrow leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata) has variegation that looks unstable -- half the leaves are variegated, half aren't, but I'm hopeful it will stabilize with white leaf margins. Plantain is a perennial, so propagation would be no problem, and really, it looks more like a rare and expensive hosta than a weed! Of course, it will still seed around like a weed, and have plain, green children... but still. Pretty cool. Now if only the non-weed residents of my yard would follow their example and throw variegated sports as well I would be REALLY excited.

5 comments:

danger garden said...

Perhaps this is just a warm up for the exciting stuff ahead? Thanks for your helpful comment about my albino agave. We were wondering about the viability when disconnected from mom.

Christine B. said...

Some people have all the luck. My weeds are fertile and green as can be. I think the only variegated resident weed is bishop's weed. Ugh.

Christine in Alaska

Joseph said...

Christine, given how rare variegated sports are, I think my finding these two only speaks to just how many weeds I have around...

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Frank Hudson said...

These coincidental mutations make the landscape visually striking, attracting people to beauty where it is least expected. Biennial as it is, variegated queen anne's lace may not breed true from seeds, though this ephemerality contributes to the overall charm of these botanical encounters.

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