Color of blue forget-me-not flowers has mutated. Opinions?

I wasn't sure where to post this question, but I've been growing blue Forget-Me-Nots for the past nine years. They have always reseeded themselves and have always been blue. This morning, I noticed that one clump of forget-me-nots was blooming in a mix of blue and pink flowers. I had never seen this happen before.

Has anyone experienced this? If I harvest seeds from this plant later on, is there a chance that this mutation would be passed on? It's kind of a pretty effect with the pink blossoms mixed in.

Opinions? If I can get a picture tomorrow, I will post it.

Myosotis is in the Boraginaceae family and the blue flowers of this family often turn pink or white as they age and in some species it's vice versa on the colours. the little yellow or white 'eye' changes colour too.

Some blue flowered plants do throw white and/or pink flowered sports.

It could be age-related, since the pink flowers look somewhat older. It's interesting that it's only happening on one clump. I'll have to look around to see if any other plants are showing this effect.

Mutations happen naturally in the wild (maybe some recessive gene becoming dominant, maybe the climat changes)...how do you think carrots turned from white to orange? :)

I bought forget-me-nots last summer and could only get the pink ones. My garden centre has both varieties normally. It'll be interesting to see what comes up in the spring, whether pink or blue.

Lilystorm, I agree with Baa. The most likely explanation is that the spent flowers are turning pink. This happens quite often with mine.

Weezi, I planted my FMNs in early June, and the flowers were only pink, never blue, from start to finish. Maybe I got some kind of hybrid? Its all still under lots of snow right now, will see what comes up in the spring.

Ceedub, there are pink cultivars, for sure. I was referring to lilystorm's forget-me-nots that started out blue. There is a pink cultivar called Victoria Rose, and a there is also a Victoria White. They are really beautiful.

I think that's what I have, the Victoria Rose. Yes, they are very pretty. Can't wait for them to come up....the snow has other ideas....lol.

Most of these forget-me-nots are biennials, so it's always interesting to see what comes up.

Oooops, and here I thought they were perennials... I just tried to find the tag to be sure of the name, but I apparently left it in the ground, right now under 5' of driveway snow...sigh. Well, I do know that they're pink!
Happy Friday Night!!
Christine.

Christine, they are avid self-seeders, so once established, they will seem like perennials. There are several common types of forget-me-nots. Up here, I grow the following:

Woodland forget-me-not/Myosotis sylvatica (synonym: M. alpestris) (biennial): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/233/index.html

Water forget-me-not Myosotis scorpioides (a native variety, perennial here): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2433/index.html

Chinese forget-me-not Cynoglossum amabile (annual): http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/258/index.html

I believe the most commonly sold is M. sylvatica. If you buy them in bloom, they will not likely return, but don't deadhead and they will drop seed. I am not sure if the white or pink ones will return in those colors or revert to blue as the years pass.

Many of my beds are full of forget-me-nots every spring. It takes a couple years to get the cycle going so that there are always second year plants to bloom. When you start growing them, you will likely have a year when you have no blooms. I say 'likely' because, should they get an early start, some biennials bloom the first year. (Biennial's habits drive me crazy!)

Thanks Weezi. They all have such delicate pretty flowers. I especially like the Chinese, its such a vibrant blue.

Yes! I once grew some in a pot with butter yellow calendula. It was a lovely combo.

Wow, that sounds really lovely. Yellow and blue together is a very peaceful combo too.

I have a friend who pulls FMNs every spring from her garden because she doesn't want them there. She's never planted them, and has been in the house about 6 yrs now. I guess, given time, they can be pretty invasive - it must be that getting them started towards their invasive nature can be tough...lol.

Every spring, I have many, many little seedlings coming up. I just move them around where I want them. It's hard to fault them on a sunny spring day when they are blooming all over the yard.

Absolutely Weezi. I believe that flowers are mother nature's way of thanking us for taking such good care of her.

I don't know about that, ceedub... maybe it's mother nature's way of covering up the mess we make! Of course, I'm not referring to your gardens, but rather all the beautiful flowers that grow out of rusting cars, old waste dumps, etc!

Good point! There's some plants that its impossible to get rid of, pretty flowers or not - Peruvian Lilies spring to mind - I bought some last fall and planted them in the middle of a tiny flower bed, then I read how astoundingly invasive they are-so I moved them into a container on my deck (above my garage)-hopefully they can't migrate 10 feet down and 6 feet over.... lol (she says naively...lol).

I've never grown Peruvian lilies. They probably won't winter over here... maybe that's a good thing! Some reseeders are always welcome in my gardens. The forget me nots come to mind... and the sweet little violas, never the same, always a surprise. Both the forget-me-nots and the violas even pop up in my driveway!

My zone is the warmest PL's will survive in according to PlantFiles. Lets see if they survived in the unprotected container they've been in all winter...lol. If not, no loss since I won't put them back in the ground anyway-a $2 mistake isn't hard to take - hey! I'm a poet!
Christine.

You're a poet and your feet show it... they're Longfellows! (Old expression of my Dad's)

LOL!!