What do you get when you cross this flower
with this flower?
Voila' ... a new Indian blanket flower!
Isn't nature amazing?
I've been thinking for awhile that my blanket flowers were cross-pollinating because subtle but different variations seem to show up next to each other. This weekend a new plant that seeded itself bloomed, and my suspicians were confirmed. Gaillardia blanket flower Torch ‘Red Ember’ (upper right corner) mixed with 'Goblin’ (lower right corner).
Have you've noticed cross-pollination at work in your garden?
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13 comments:
Great observation, Susan! Very cool!!! I notice color variations but not completely different flower types. What fun!!! Does this mean you get to name it?!?!
That’s a totally cool flower, and I have noticed the cross pollination specially with my Pentas, I have many different colors around the garden and the volunteers tend to have different shades of the original colors
I like Gaillardias. They flower for a long time and the bees love them. But they're not too keen on living in my climate.
Seed companies like Thompson and Morgan are always on the look-out for new hybrids which turn up. In England they have a scheme asking customers to look out for anything, which T&M might be interested in offering commercially.
They have a section about this on their website:
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/info/breeding-new-plants.html
I suppose there are similar schemes in the US.
How neat is that? You have some very pretty cultivars of the blanket flower. I just have the wild one reseeding everywhere.
Hi Susan,
Not only is that cool it is in the realm of supercool. Now that you have a hybrid mutant you do get to name it. Be sure to save some of the seeds.
Your new hybrid looks nearly identical to the Gaillardia 'Fanfare' in my garden. I wonder if this cross was used to produce that hybrid. I love the gaillardias, but I'm now wondering what seedlings are going to look like in my garden in the future, since I now have four different cultivars.
Wow, that is cool! I have noticed the similar things happened to my vincas. The seedlings grow to a different shade slightly different from the parent plant. I have three colors.
Kimberly...I'm assuming that's what's happened since I didn't buy the new plant and don't have any others like it in my garden.
Rusty...I'll have to watch my pentas more closely. Very interesting!
Robur...Too bad they don't do well in your climate. They are a fabulous plant for us in Florida...so many flowers and they don't freeze either.
Kay...I think I've got 3 different varieties beside the new one. The Torch varieties were a neat find but I haven't seen them since I bought them last summer.
Sanddune...I will definitely being saving these seeds and planting them to see what I get. I'll keep ya'll posted.
FloridaGirl...I Googled the "fanfare" variety and it does look like it. I've never bought this variety before, so I assumed the two plants cross-pollinated, especially since the new plant came up in a place about a foot away from the others. How interesting!
Ami...I've got to be more observant. Rusty in Miami said his pentas do the same thing. I'll have to watch and see what happens with my vincas.
OMGosh, Susan. You are so far ahead of me in gardening knowledge, I wouldn't even think of noticing this stuff. Amazing! The colors are absolutely gorgeous! I have so much to learn...
I ripped out my Blanket Flowers last weekend. I was sad to do it, but they had grown (because I was too lazy to tame them) to cover over half of my herb bed, which is large. Don't worry; more are already sprouting. They are beautiful, but now I think I know why they are also called ditchweed.
Daisy...These flowers are soooo pretty that I can't help looking at them all the time, and this new flower was so obviously different from all the others. It is a beauty!
Hi Brandy...Ripped them out -- Yikes! Just kidding. I know what you mean they definitely have a way of spreading...I guess that's where the term "blanket" flower comes from. I've never heard the term "ditchweed" before. They do have a way of reseeding themselves quite nicely. I guess that's why they grow on the roadside so well.
What a great flower! That combination is fantastic!
How neat is that! I have wondered where some of the weird flowers in my garden come from.Never thought of cross-pollination.Now I shall be watching.
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