Cortusa matthioli alba (Variegata?)

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Bonjour à tous,
I think Im very lucky.
I actualy have 2 variegated seedlings of Cortusa matthioli alba from seeds I got from the seed exchange.
As I did have two from my paquet of seeds, I post this topic as a warning for other gardeners to look at their seedlings.
I hope they will mature healty and give seeds.
Bernard

[Maggi Young]

Bonjour et bienvenu, Bernard!
I would not get too excitied yet about your "variegated" seedlings.....I regret to say that I fear this may simply be a sign of a mineral deficiency of some sort.... I may be wrong, in which case I wish you joy of these variegated babies!

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Maggi,
A friend of mine said this is the result of fumes of my smoked salmon. I did find an Echinacea purpurea variegated in 2002 and I actualy have approx. 20 differents plants from the seeds of the first.

In 2002 I also found a seedling of Acer pennsylvanicum variagated and I still  have it. (All leaves are different, some with 4 colors).

But you are right, Im happy but not too much.
Bernard

[Maggi Young]

A friend of mine said this is the result of fumes of my smoked salmon.

     I like that  but Ian and I have spent a lot of time near smoke houses ( for salmon and other fish) and we are not yet variegated  ... wonder what went wrong with us?

Maybe you just have a great place for making variegated plants..... 
It will be most interesting to see how these Cortusa develop 

[Kristl Walek]

Bernard,
I have had all sorts of variations come up from seed grown babies over the years- (variegates and other foliage color or shape variations, flower color sports, etc etc).

This is just another one of the (many) reasons to grow from seed, as in fact, this is precisely how sports are often born -- I always do segregate the "odd balls" and wait and see what happens.

99% of the time it turns out NOT TO BE a fixed trait, but just a genetic or other anomaly.

This same thing must be kept in mind when finding sports in the wild---where pseudo-variegates and other sports abound, but most end up being environmentally related (weather, virus, etc).

Over the 20+ years I have been dragging "sports" home from the wild "in the hopes that...." only 3 have ever turned into something worthwhile (a beautifully variegated Uvularia grandiflora that I am still holding onto after 10 years, and which gets better each year, and a marked Trillium grandiflorum (which has struggled from year one).

I have also found fascinating leaf and color variations in Hepatica (but these are not uncommon).

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Bonjour Kristl,

I know I have to wait a long time before to be sure. But I have lot of time.

Some time a baby cause a big surprise. A seedling of my variegated Echinacea gave me a bloom of 50 flowers at first bloom.

This Acer pennsylvanicum keep his variagateg characteristic when grafted.

I also found many dwarf Picea mariana under observation since 2002. Many did not change their growing rate (from Zone 2 to Zone 4B)

Finaly, you never gave me news of the seeds of Cortusa caucasica (alba) a did mail you in 2005.
Now, I have 30 plants in my garden.

Bonne journée,
Bernard

[Maggi Young]

Bernard, I see you have other, prettier, unvariegated babies, too! 

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Yes Maggi,
This is my grand-daughter Lea.

[Maggi Young]

A grand-daughter  ... she is lovely. You are a fortunate man.

[Kristl Walek]

Bonjour Bernard!!!!
I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure---I have so many Quebec Bernard friends and customers, I get mixed up...I do apologize about the Cortusa...and the only excuse I have is that my life fell apart in 2005 (really) and I am just now starting to recover. I never sowed the seeds, or any seed that year and not much the next....and they are probably still buried somewhere in my freezer.

Your Acer is striking.

Another Bernard from Quebec City grew out the Malus baccata sport from seed that I call "Streak" on my website. It's a strong variegation with the addition of pink (although my picture here doesn't show this too dramatically). And it keeps it's characteristics 80% of the time from seed. It was supposed to be put into production by Jean-Pierre (the woody Quebec plantsman), but I don't believe it has been yet. I am still not sure how I feel about it (I am not naturally attracted to most variegates, unless the variegation is very subtle, as in some woodland plants).

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Im twice fortunated. Her brother Hubert is a love too.

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Kristl, I have this Malus baccata, from Bernard Carier, since many years.
I had success in cutting with this tree.

[Lesley Cox]

Closer to Cortusa than some others mentioned here, I occasionally get a seedling primula, especially from P. alpicola with good, clean variegation. One I kept growing well for a couple of years, but like the others, died eventully from, I think, a lack of strength. It didn't seem to have the stamina of the plain green plants. Likewise, the white parts of the variegation were very vulnerable to sun burn and it had to be in total shade. Nice, but not worth the trouble.

[arisaema]

Could we have an update please, did it stay variegated?

[Blue-bellied Frog]

Unfortunately not.
But, I found this Solidago in a flower bed.