This afternoon I tackled sports. Now, please don’t imagine that that means my knee is miraculously fully recovered. I speak of reversion; not of myself, but of the horticultural variety. Variegated plants are generally selected from a sport, or mutation, of a pure green plant. The sport is then propagated by cuttings, grafting or division to retain its features. However, the mutations within these plants are not always stable and can be prone to reverting back to pure green shoots. Reversion is the name given when a cultivar known for a particular leaf shape, colour, or other striking characteristic returns to a different form found in the plant’s parentage. The term is often used to describe a variegated shrub or tree that produces non-variegated shoots.
This euonymus is a case in point. Jackie cut it right back last year, but it continues to revert. I took out the new, much stronger, green stems. This exercise left a few gaps.
It was a much hotter, equally humid, afternoon when I wandered around the garden and down to Roger’s fields and back.
Perhaps it was natural for a minute, black spotted, yellow bug to seek refuge on this snapdragon.
A verbascum towers at the eastern end of the Phantom Path;
in the former compost bed a gladiolus tangoes with a viburnum bonarensis, beyond which
lurk echinaceas.
Our lost label rose proves not to be an Aloha. We still don’t know what it is. Any ideas?
Roger’s hay bales were better lit.
I am not an expert on butterflies, but my research suggests that this very small one that, with its companions, flitted about the footpath hedgerow, tantalising me for some time before it settled, is a Small Skipper.
This evening we dined on rack of pork rib coated with barbecue sauce, and Jackie’s egg fried rice. I started on a fine bottle of Catena malbec 2013 given to me by Shelly and Ron for my birthday.
The euonymus’s reversion created quite a diversion
‘Til the head gardener’s aversion resulted in expurgion.
Love the tangoing gladioli!
Thanks, Bruce
They say a leopard never loses its spots; perhaps it depends on how it acquired them 🙂 My grandmother reverted back to her village dialect at the end of her life and I found it hard to understand her. I find myself reverting to my Chinese side as I age. Maybe I’ll lose my English one day just as Grandma lost her Cantonese. If I live that long.
Thank you Mary. Please don’t lose your English. 🙂
Loved it Derrick …fetching clicks as usual. ..:)
Thank you Chitra
Fascinating info on variegated plants. And the glad’s were beautiful as well as the lurking echinacea…it looked quite innocent.
Many thanks Lisa. I’m sure the echinacea had no evil intent. 🙂
There’s something so comforting about hay bales (even the modern round bales) on a field. maybe it’s the thought of contented ruminants munching in winter.
Thank you Adrienne
I don’t know what your lost label rose is either – but it sure is a pretty colour!
It is – and in the books there are so many like it, it is impossible to choose. Thank you, as always
Thank you for this sporty, beautiful post, Derrick.
Learned something new–and loved the bug!
I recognize that black spotted, yellow bug — that’s Shy Serena’s friend, Sarcastic Sophie. 🙂
I’ve never had any luck with grafting – what’s the trick?
We have never tried it. We inherited those plants in our garden
Now – THAT’S the way to do it!! 😉
Wow!!! So beautiful, green leaves and flowers are magical placed and love it.
Lovely post!!!
😀
Many thanks, Nihar
We have a variegated privet in the front garden – I cut the green out but the neighbour doesn’t. Sometimes it seems like we have lost the colouration yet somehow it comes back. Interesting subjet. Great photos as usual too.
Thanks
When I read that you had “tackled sports”, I thought you had taken up proper American football (-:
Plant ancestry, a spotted yellow bug, snapdragons, Roger’s hay bales and Jackie’s egg fried rice: sounds like a lovely day.
I’m sorry I’ve missed a few of your posts and will be back soon to finish my comments ( It’s about time you got a haircut, you old hippie! (-:
Thanks. 🙂