Light green Nicotiana alata 'Limelight', started from seed three years ago, has helpfully reseeded everywhere it's needed, every summer since. Last year, one of the volunteers showed up in pink-purple, and my wish that there'd be more of it this year has come true. I'm seeing a few this year that are leaning red (confirming my suspicion that this wasn't a spontaneous sport, but a souvenir of cross-pollination with the store-bought red miniature nicotiana I had in one of the whiskey barrels a few summers ago), and even one which seems quaintly old-fashioned, with tea-stained petals.
And this? Mutant Rudbeckia hirta, crinkly and green. I'd love to get a bunch of these into a green glass bottle, surrounded by the nicotiana of many colors.
Wow... finally, a rudbeckia that I might be able to have in my garden! (The usual yellow/brown combo brings to mind the bad decor I experienced firsthand during my childhood in the 70s.)
Posted by: blackswamp_girl (Kim) | July 26, 2006 at 11:46 AM
Ooooh. I like the mutant. It looks invitingly cool and frosty.
Posted by: M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) | July 26, 2006 at 10:17 PM
Years ago I had a green-centered Rudbeckia in my Illinois garden - maybe called 'Irish Eyes'? It looked really good with dark blue salvia.
Both the lime-green Nicotiana and the mutant Rudbeckia are really interesting. All the gardeners in Texas crave flowers that look cool right now, I guess.
Good luck with whatever crosses for next summer!
Posted by: Annie in Austin | July 29, 2006 at 10:06 AM
The mutant Rudbeckia is wonderful and reminds me of what some people call the Osteospermum African daisy with "spoon-shaped" petals. (I grew up calling Gerber Daisies, African daisies.)
see--
Osteospermum barberae
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/osteospermumpix.html
and Osterospermum
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/screensaver/DDG/osteospermumpix.html
In Nov 2004 when I had planned to start gardening in my new home, I had to stop all gardening. Adding flowers to my screen saver became a substitute. "The Garden Helper" had more photos of O ecklonis which is similar to your sport.
I did an extensive search for seeds or starts of the spoon-shaped variety but could find no vendor at that time.
Posted by: Ann | October 04, 2006 at 12:30 AM
Similar flower to Rudbeckia sport
Posted by: Ann Moore | October 04, 2006 at 12:32 AM