White Verbena Bonariensis

There have been several threads lately re Verbena bonariensis lately so here's a nother. Among the many self seeded plants in my garden this turned up. Not had a white one before.

 

Oh how unusual, you never know you might have a new strain? I've never seen white before.

 

Definitely a new colour break.

 

The trouble with the hardy Verbenas is that they are promiscuous.

There are......

The taller ones......

Bonariensis ( lavender flowers )
Hastata ( purple )
Alba ( white )
Rosea ( pink )

Then the shorter ones.........

Lollipop ( purple )
Little One ( purple )
Polaris ( lavender/grey )

All these will mix together and who knows what size or colour you'd end up with.

 

I have had pale pink to almost purple seedlings.....white may not be too uncommon; however, take cuttings Redwing. I would certainly like to grow a few (stable) whites
As KFF said most verbenas are prolific flowerers .....Rigida, Homestead Purple, etc here are non stop all summer......so more likely to produce variations in colour.

 

That's what I was thinking @Verdun. ... cuttings. Seeds of course will not come true. How does one know if it would be stable? Meaning what? Would a white throw purple sports?

 

If it throws up white flowers next year Redwing. I would take cuttings now and if all produce white flowers you may have a winner

 

When are you taking orders @Redwing? Knowing that they are so easy from cuttings you could be supplying all and sundry in a few weeks time.

 

Ha ha silu,
Redwing should take cuttings then root them. Next year, if they flower white, Redwing can make some money

 

Haha....I await my fortune. Trials are beginning.

I took cuttings this morning so we shall see. On close examination it is on the same plant that has some white flowers, some purple flowers and some a mixture, as in these pictures. I guess this is what @Verdun means by stable or not. My camera and the photographer are not very good at taking closeups so apologies for the quality.

Edit: should have said, I took the cuttings from side shoots of the stems with the whitest flowers.

 

I’ve been asked how my white ver bon has stood up so I thought I’d update this thread. Sadly it did not prove stable. The few cuttings I rooted threw a mixture of white and purple flowers and none produced solely white ones....so I will not be making my fortune. There were some white flowers last year on the original plant but most individual heads were a mix of white and purple. I haven’t seen any whites this year so guess it was a fleeting aberration.