Burke’s Backyard receives letters about confusing flowering plants that have two different coloured flowers on the one bush. For example an azalea may have magenta purple flowers with one branch of whitish flowers with a magenta purple edge. The different coloured flowers are called bud sports and occur when the plant is unstable resulting in the mutation.
What is a sport?
A sport is a term used in horticulture to describe the way some plants grow just one branch or segment which is different from the original plant. Usually the sport has flowers which are differently coloured from those of the original plant. Some sports are recognised and recur (for example particularly in azaleas and camellias), others are seen only once but can be propagated to give a new variety.