3 years ago I had many Rose of Sharon seedlings growing and spotted this


It looked unusual, but I figured I'd keep it to see if it gained color. A few months after planting it looked like this.


I was amazed at how beautiful it was! Now, 3 years later I have a gorgeous, highly variegated Rose of Sharon, with green,yellow, and white splashed on the leaves. Up until now I've had no blooms, but now have buds ready to open any day!





As you can see, the bud coloring is also variegated! The more variegated the leaves near it, the more white in the bud!

I can't wait to post photos when they open and of the gorgeous leaf colors! I've not seen anything like this, not even in stores, and it should be fertile and set seed so I'm hoping to get more variegated plants and try and root cuttings of it to give others.

Impressive, Keith!

Oh, this looks fun!

It finally bloomed! Petals are double, lavender-pink color with splashes of white on them (hard to see photo taken in full sun). One petal had green on the edge.
You can see the beautiful variegated foliage. Surely wont find this in stores!









green on petal

Stunning!!!!

Really special and unique. Will you mass market it someday? I sure would love to buy a propagated plant from your special tree.

kousa said:Really special and unique. Will you mass market it someday? I sure would love to buy a propagated plant from your special tree.

Next year I would like to try rooting cuttings from it in hopes of being able to share with others.

Good luck with it,Keith. It is really nice!

I AM SPEECHLESS. God, it's the simple things in life.

bhart90 said:I AM SPEECHLESS. God, it's the simple things in life.

It stands out so much next to its plain green counterparts, it's like a Peacock of the flower world!

Keith have you thought about patenting it? Selling the rights to a Plant propagating company like Monrovia or someone?

Pistil said:Keith have you thought about patenting it? Selling the rights to a Plant propagating company like Monrovia or someone?

I thought it's hard to get that done and that it takes years to test if the plant is healthy enough to sell? I would like to have it sold and if it could earn me some money that would be nice too!

Beautiful plant, love the blooms.

Our Lowes has variegated Rose of Sharon for sale right now, they have pink flowers. But a softer pink color.
They are pricey, $30? I didn't buy one.
It's a beautiful shrub, Keith!

Frillylily said:Our Lowes has variegated Rose of Sharon for sale right now, they have pink flowers. But a softer pink color.
They are pricey, $30? I didn't buy one.
It's a beautiful shrub, Keith!

I have one of those, they don't get as much variegation and don't produce seed. These pink flowers fade to lavender as they age before wilting.

Beautiful foliage and blossoms - nice going, Keith! You sure come up with some beauties! I'm still admiring my variegated ornamental peppers grown from your seeds.

It's really special, Keith. You should definitely look into patenting it, putting a name to it, and perhaps getting some financial benefit from it! Congrats.

I did some googling on patents and looks like it can cost several thousand dollars !
I was curious because I ran into someone at a yard sale that had a gadget she was selling and she told me she had filed for a patent and that now in the process she had to come up with 16,000 to finish it. I almost fell over

kousa said:Really special and unique. Will you mass market it someday? I sure would love to buy a propagated plant from your special tree.

@kousa
Are you interested in free seeds from it?

@keithp2012 Yes, I would love some if you have any to spare. Can you T-mail me? Please let me know how much the postage and I will send it to you.