Variegated Daylily

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Blueaussi

New Member
I have a Pardon Me daylily that's been in a container for about...5 years? It's running a little behind this year because I had to repot it, but I noticed there were some variegated leaves sprouting along the edge. I've been watching it, and noticed today that it's shooting up a scape, and that scape is white. The buds are pale, too. Is this something you see from time to time with daylilies, or do I actually have a mutation of some sort?

Oh, that's lemon thyme around the base that, ironically, used to be variegated.
 

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RonsGarden

Super Moderator
Staff member
It is a good case of nutrient starvation.
Variagated foliage is the first clue that the soil lacks nitrogen as well as other necessary nutrients!
You need to fertilze!!!
Use a water soluable type with a ratio such as 15-30-15.
 

Blueaussi

New Member
Are you talking about chlorosis? This isn't chlorosis, the variegation in the leaf is even in shape and color, and it's only in the one fan. I'm thinking maybe you aren't looking at the single fan I was trying to show in the picture. Some of the foliage of the main clump looks rough, but it got too dry before I repotted it; the pot it was in cracked and the water was leaking out. It was repotted into Happy Frog potting soil which has lots of nice organic manures in it. Plus they got fish emulsion early this spring. Tonight they got Tiger Bloom.

So, they've been fertilized more than once since spring. I looked up leaf streak disease of daylilies, and this doesn't look like that at all. It doesn't look like any of the nutritional deficiencies I'm familiar with, although my experience with nutritional deficiencies specific to daylilies is admittedly small, and I haven't had much luck googling up any images, either. Daylilies are generally pretty hardy.
 

DizzyDaff

New Member
Interesting. :rolleyes: Please keep us posted and update pics of the bloom you get from that bleached scape.
The discoloration and varigated foliage does not appear to be a disease I am aware of, tho you may have Leaf Streak on some of the foliage of the rest of the plant.
 
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DizzyDaff

New Member
Did find another unknown varigated foliage daylily for you, which seems to have also come from a shoot off the mother plant.

And 'Golden Zebra' which has the striped foliage

And Variegated Kwanso is pictured here - along with the following information about the white stem
Posted by uroboros5 Z5 Quebec
"This is not usual.


The meristem is made up of an handfull of cells, divided in 3 layers. In variegated plants, some layers are devoid of chlorophyll-producing cells, creating a variegated leaf.
If a meristem mother cell migrates from one layer to another, the shoot may become all white or all green, depending on which cell moved to what layer. These unproductive white shoots cannot grow independently from the rest of the clump, and are a net energy sink. They will weaken the rest of the plant and reduce flowering."


We still want to see more pics though! ;)
 

Blueaussi

New Member
Thanks Diz, that's interesting reading. I knew there was at least one variegated variety, but I guess I assumed it had been bred, and wasn't a sport. All the leaves on it have some green, so it's got chlorophyll and shouldn't be a drain. It also answers about the white scape.

This morning the buds were showing a tiny bit of red color. I tried to get a picture, but the sunlight washed it out a bit. There's a normal Pardon Me blooming, though, so I thought I'd post it.
 

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Blueaussi

New Member
I spoke with a friend of my mother's yesterday who grows and breeds daylilies. He said that getting a variegated fan like that if not common, isn't uncommon, either. He said that they usually don't thrive, and day after a season or so. Lots of people have tried to stabilize them, but they usually just die.

The theory seems to be that the lack of chlorophyll in the white part prevents the plant from photosynthesizing as much as it needs to to survive. That doesn't make sense to me, because other variegated plants do just fine, but for whatever reason, variegated sport daylilies apparently do not thrive.

I might TLC this one a bit and see what happens.
 

Bernie

New Member
That makes no sense to me either since there are so many variegated flowering plants. I would give it all the TLC it can stand and see what happens. What have you got to lose? Just think of how crazy daylily freaks would be if you happen to have the one that thrives. Save the seeds! Good luck. Can’t wait to see the flowers.
 

Blueaussi

New Member
Well, it bloomed today, but a thunderstorm rolled in before I could get a picture. The bloom looks exactly like a regular Pardon Me blossom.
 

secondrain

New Member
4th year variegated daylily

Hi all, not sure if this is the right place to post, (I'm a newbie) but I found this variegated daylily while doing some removals for a client 4 years ago. I believe it's a mutation, and the variegation is not consistent throughout (other than consistently around the edges), but it has thrived in the spot I planted it here at home (zone 5a). My mother and sister have a nursery in central WI and suggest I look into propagating it. Any thoughts on this or variety based on the flower?
--first picture is from today, second one is one of the blooms last year
 

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secondrain

New Member
variegated Kwanso in the wild

...just saw a pic elsewhere of a variegated Kwanso - that is what this appears to be, and the fact that this one just happened to be in a mass by the road just tells me I found a similar mutation that it looks like Carl Sigel did a decade or so ago. Sound about right?
 

RonsGarden

Super Moderator
Staff member
Mutations are interesting because they occure rarely, and unexpectantly! A lot of the more interesting perennials on the market come from these genetic oddities!

To propagate more, you will need to dig up and divide your clump. When dividing select the variagated sections and plant them out away from more plainer sections.
You may find these sections will become more intense, or similar to the foliage in your photo!
Saving the seeds and planting them probably wont produce plants with the variagation.....but then again they could if the genetic mutation is passed to the seeds, but more then likely it wont!
 


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