Pink Weldenia

[Diane Clement]

Has anyone ever heard of or come across a pink Weldenia candida?? This question is not for me, but a friend.  Personally I don't think you can improve on the pristine crystalline white flower, but we'll all different 

[Pennine Wanderer]

Hi Diane,

It's not pink but this is a photo of my Weldenia Candida which I bought last year from Mendle Nursery in Lincolnshire.  I am surprised at the number of flowers as they are only supposed to have one new one each day.

Dave

[Lesley Cox]

I've never heard of a pink Weldenia let alone seen one. But then, at one time I'd not seen or heard of a pink Sanguinaria, or Podophyllum hexandrum or Celmisia viscosa. All are known and grown now. You're right though Diane, nothing could be an improvement on that pure, virginal white of the species as we know it.

Dave, each stem produces a number of buds and several will often open at a time on each, so that there can be many out. I have on occasion had over 100 new flowers out on a single plant. All my plants are currently tucked up safely for the winter which has hit with a bang, 5 straight days of rain without a break. The predicted snow hasn't come yet but is being forecast for tomorrow. Most of my smaller Weldenias are in pots and dryish - I've never had them like this before, always planted out - but yesterday I went to have a look at the garden plants (3) and sank into the soil up to my ankles it was so waterlogged. It will be interesting to see how the Weldenias and other dormant plants cope with this.

[Tim Ingram]

There is a pink Weldenia but it's called a Tradescantia! There is probably a reasonable chance that the two genera might cross, so take the dwarfest tradescantia and maybe a race of pink weldcantias might result! I agree totally with Diane and Lesley - the pure white flowers of Weldenia are just exquisite (but then there are white gentians and even white eritrichiums!). Mann's wholesale alpine nursery in Essex grow Weldenia beautifully.

[Lesley Cox]

Greatly relieved Tim that there's no "real" pink Weldenia. Otherwise I might have to believe the pink snowdrop posted some hours ago.

[Diane Clement]

Thanks for all replies.  Tim, I think you may have the answer, well done for lateral thinking! I'll pass the information back to my friend.

[Rodger Whitlock]

There is a pink Weldenia but it's called a Tradescantia! There is probably a reasonable chance that the two genera might cross, so take the dwarfest tradescantia and maybe a race of pink weldcantias might result!

When this request was first posted, the same thought went through my mind. But after looking up the family tree of the Commelinaceae I concluded that Tradescantia and Weldenia, though both in the same tribe (Tradescantieae), may be too distantly related to cross.

I did find one link that describes Weldenia itself as "rarely blue".

On the other hand, the old adage "nothing ventured, nothing gained" is worth keeping in mind. And there are some lovely near-red tradescantias to use as breeding stock.