The brug formerly known as Snowbank

OK, here's a dumb newbie question.... is it possible for variegated brugs to revert to solid green? I've been growing brugs for 4 years now but last year was the first time I tried a variegated one. Snowbank was not exactly a stellar performer... it grew beautifully at first, but when the weather turned hot the edges of the leaves got scorched brown. Then it became an insect salad bar - eaten up by little green caterpillars and flea beetles. My 'plain green leaved' brugs suffer no significant insect damage. Anyway, I was not kind to Snowbank last fall and really didn't care if I lost it or not. It did come back from the roots though - I moved the sprouts to a pot to try to get them to grow faster. As you can see from the picture, it's growing very well but there is no sign of variegation. I am sure this is (was) Snowbank. Will it regain its variegation or has it permanently reverted to green? Thanks for your help!

That is what they call a "sport", grows up under the soil, beside the main stem. As far as I know, it will never become a variegated leaf one.

It looks like my Whiskers, except my plant has larger leaves...I've heard ot a 'sport' but I thought they were white. I'm a newbie, and I've never seen a sport, so I surely do not know...but I hope you find the answer. Good luck!!

F.Y.I.
There is a green Snowbank sport called Greenbank .
=)

This message was edited Jul 6, 2004 9:29 AM

I think sports can be just about anything, green, white, or variegated. It all depends on what plant they come off of. I had a Whiskers plant a couple of years ago and kept the bottom shoots for my plant for the following year. Sent one to my friend and kept one. They both bloomed white instead of yellow, so they must have been sports. The leaves looked the same, just the blooms were different. I have sports on a few of my coleus this year. Strange how this happens.

Brugie,here is a sport in your Maya,it is just starting to get a little green.

Hope it hangs on. Nees just a little more green to be self standing. LOL!

Let me know if I understand this correctly .........

A sport grows from beneath the ground's surface, like from the roots ? If you have growth from the very bottom of the trunk, it isn't a sport?

If the sport in rootdoctor's picture keeps growing without any more green in the leaves it won't survive as a cutting and grow on it's own. What if he doesn't remove it, will it come back next year with the same white leaves?

Am I even close to understanding?

Tree,everyone tells me to leave it on,so that is what I am going to do,it is slowly getting more color,I love the way it glows Neon at sunset.
here you can see it is coming off the side of the trunk,not from out of the ground,I am not sure what difference this makes,first one I have ever had,so I am learning too.

Bob, that looks really cool up close.

That Maya is beautiful and the sport is too!!! I'm glad to see big leaves, I've really got some BIG leaves...

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tisscult/chimeras/chimeralec/chimeras.html

Here is some reading about sports/chimeras. I had an old fashioned grape vine....the kind with seeds that last year produced a vine with seedless grapes. It looked just like the rest of the vines, but the grapes were seedless and I will say, they didn't taste as good.

A side branch may also mutate to become a 'sport' like it happened in the case of Vienna Silver Star and my own Grazie.

My Austrian Copper Rose grows a pure yellow sport right out of the middle of the bush every year.

Thanks everybody.

I think I understand now that I read the article Brugie linked to. (I didn't understand all of the article but, got the gist I think)

My understanding is that a Sport can develope anywhere on the plant. It happens when a cell mutates creating new growth with new characteristics.

My overwintered Snowbank came back, and is now a foot high, and 18 inches across. Right beside it, coming out of the ground, is a green Brug that it put out from beneath the soil. I have allowed it to remain out of curiosity to see 'wot happens.

PS
With my variegated hydrangea and pachasandra there is always the possibility of varigation loss -- I would assume there is a recessive at work here. I keep pulling up the solid pachasandra.

Thanks for all the feedback! So, it looks as if my 'Greenbank' will remain green, though there is a slight chance it will sport back to variegated. I will let it grow this summer and see what it does, but if it's just going to be plain green without any redeeming flower qualities it will likely be 'shovel pruned' this fall.

Sorry to say,but yep,would be worth seeing a bloom on it.

Silly question, Im just not sure how this works. If anyone gets a green sport on Snowbank, is it automatically considered Greenbank?

Shelly, I bet the sports are not genetically identical to each other. So if that is true, they would be like seeds from 1 pod, all are different.

Root, I just found a little white sport on my Maya. I was about to give this one away but now I will wait till the sport dies. I love the look.

Shelly ... NO =((

Thanks for clearing that up for me ladies. I just wasnt sure! :o)

I love that little sport Kell!

I have a sport on my Peaches and Cream. It has been there for quit some time. It shows no sign of greening. I will leave it attached because it would surely die if I removed it.
Cindy

Wow! Now that is white!! Wooweee!

Newbie questions here...
Kell, you mentioned you're waiting for the sport on your Maya to die. Does that mean you don't expect it to live very long?
Why won't sports survive as cuttings?

Sorry if this has already been explained. :)

They do not have enough green in the leaf structure to perform photosynthesis and sustain life in the plant on its own.The light colored leaves are from the lack of chlorophyll.
I think,someone correct me if I am wrong please.

Here is a picture of my snowbanks doing the same thing... I am going to cut it off and root it

Root, you are correct. A solid green sport will outperform its variegated parent but a solid white sport that does not have any chlorophyll cannot make its own food by photosynthesis, it's essentially a parasite on the parent plant and will die once it's detached.

Tracey, is your green sport coming up from the roots? I can see the normal variagated foliage in the background. BTW, I separated my green plant into several pieces to give them more room to grow. They are growing at less than half the rate of a "normal" brug - I doubt they will reach blooming size before frost. The only good thing I can say is that the green form seems less susceptible to bugs than the variegated form. There might be some breeding potential, however, since Snowbank is supposed to be a tetraploid, if it has fertile pollen or can set pods when crossed you might get an interesting triploid brug. I don't know how brugs would work but the 3n form of some other types of plants can be very floriferous because they are usually sterile. If anyone is just dying to have a green Snowbank for breeding experiments let me know, otherwise it's going to be composted this fall!

[Edited to remove references to 'Greenbank' - I thought that was a joke! I didn't realize a brug already existed by that name!]

This message was edited Aug 2, 2004 11:15 PM

Correct me if i'm wrong..
Tom is referring to his sport as "greenbank".
my understanding is that "Greenbank" is a circulated brug that has officially been named.
Any new sports off of Snowbank would NOT be "greenbank". they would be new sports, that, if worthy would be given their own names?
just dont want any confusion
jen

You are correct

MsJen is right.

Yes Tom, this is from the root ball, and is way outgrowing the original plant. I believe Alice got a seedpod on "Greenbank" last year but I could be wrong.

I bought Snowbank this year and must say i was so excited when i got it.
Now its leaves are curling in the heat, its still short and im so unimpressed.
I'm not sure if its going to live long enough to make it to the compost pile, lol.
Who knows tho, maybe it will decide to grow....and bloom??

I have a green sport on my Maya. Like Kristi's. As I recall she loves her green sport. Her leaves and bloom were very nice. So I will grow mine out. Kristi, did you name yours?

Jen,
I had to move my SB to the mostly shade garden to keep from sunburning the leaves.
I believe that any plant with a good amount of white in the foliage will burn in the sun ........ JMO

Good Luck =)

Kristi named it Mayan Magic.

Thanks Gloria, that is a pretty one. The color of both the leaves and flower are so nice.

Scoot, I think you are perceptive to note the reason for Snowbank's sensitivity; I have mine in a protected area (the plant I overwintered), and it is about 20 inches, now. No big hurry to grow. I'll plan to take some cuttings soon. It is directly in the ground.

Scooterbug, thanks for the info!!! Its off to the shade tomorrow, if i can find any, lol. Its pretty pathetic looking, but not dead "yet".
thanks again
jen