Seven of my ‘Smokin’ Hot’ hybrid tea rose blooms have buds coming out of the middle of the flower. All of these flowers are from the same cane which shot up from the very bottom of rose bush. I have never seen any other roses do this before.
I cut off these seven strange roses to the next five leaves. My question is whether I should remove the entire cane?
This is a genetic mutation called flower proliferation. The cause is not known; it can be triggered by late frost, insect damage, extreme heat, or sometimes by a virus. If your rose does this each year, it might be due to a virus. Usually, in roses, the next set of flowers that develops will not have this odd formation of buds inside it. If it does, you can prune back that shoot (the way you already did). This information from the Royal Horticultural Society explains the phenomenon. Local gardening expert Ciscoe Morris has this to say about flower proliferation:
“The condition is not caused by a disease, so if the affected flowers look bad, simply prune them off. The next flush of flowers that take their place should be normal. There really is nothing to worry about, however, so if any of the multiple-blooming roses look really cool, don’t be in a hurry to remove them.”
A related flower anomaly that can affect roses is phyllody, in which leaf-like structures appear in place of flower organs. When phyllody occurs repeatedly in roses, it can be a sign of disease.
I was puttering around in my flower garden and discovered a chrysanthemum that has apparently sported. The same plant has one substantial stem with distinctly different colored flowers. I have never read of this happening before. It is doubtful it is anything but a different color but hey it happened in my garden.
“In common with many other plants the Chrysanthemum occasionally produces a mutation or change called a “sport.” This is a variation from the normal for a particular variety. The cells of the part or parts affected change and cause the difference. While this can occur in any part of the plant or bloom, the most noticeable is a change of flower colour. You may for example find that a white-flowered variety has changed to yellow and this can be of any degree from a stripe in one petal to a whole flower, or even the whole plant being affected. Cuttings taken from a whole plant sport are likely to stay the new colour. Where a whole bloom sport occurs they would probably need to be taken from the stem concerned. If only a petal or two, the chances of fixing it are rather slim.”
Source: A Plantsman’s Guide to Chrysanthemums, by J. Woolman, 1989, p. 115).
So it is fairly normal, but interesting anyway!
The ends of some of my Daphne odora branches look like several branches fused together. What causes this, and is there something I should do?
What you are describing sounds like fasciation, which is a kind of genetic mutation. Professor T. Ombrello of the department of biology at Union County College describes this condition:
Excerpt:
“One interesting type of mistake that is occasionally found in plants is known as a fasciated or crested growth form. It is usually the result of a growing point changing from a round dome of cells into a crescent shape. Subsequent growth produces a flat stem. In some cases fasciation is the result of several embryonic growing points fusing together, with the same flat-stem appearance. [… ] What causes plants to produce fasciated stems? For the most part, we just don’t know. Fasciation has been induced experimentally by applications of plant hormones, severe pruning, wounding, and atypical day lengths. Most, however, appear by chance with no obvious cause.”
University of Arkansas Extension addresses the phenomenon of fasciation.
Possible causes for this condition:
- bacterial infection
- inherited genetic trait
- herbicide, insect, or physical damage to the growing tip
- garden conditions that favor rapid growth
- spontaneous mutations
There are good illustrations and explanations on the blog of Tentative
Plant Scientist, as well.
You don’t need to do anything, unless you would like to remove the odd-looking growth. You may want to look into whether herbicide has been used, or if there have been insects feeding on your Daphne. Also, avoid over-fertilizing, which could promote excessively fast growth.