is this a disease ? 1st and 2nd bud on this plant are both doing this , I was hoping it was just a phase it was going through but now I am wondering if I should get rid of the plant before it infects something else (if it is a disease)

It could be asters yellow. If it continues, I would remove them.

Yes, you should probably destroy the plant and dispose in the trash, not the compost bin.
http://www.gardeningknowhow.co...

No chance it's just a freak mutation? If you can prove that's the case, save the seeds. If it's diseased trash it.

This phenomenon is highly documented. I doubt very much it's a marketable plant. It would be nice if it were.

Zencat said:This phenomenon is highly documented. I doubt very much it's a marketable plant. It would be nice if it were.

That's a shame it's a disease

I planted pink, and yellow seeds , and got some white from yellow seeds and pretty orange from pink seeds.

I do like it and thought it might be from overcrowding or something but certainly do not want to risk it spreading

specially to less common plants

Google Apetalous Zinnias