Mark Leonard is always looking for the unusual when stocking his nursery in Loomis, just east of Sacramento. Now he’s outdone himself. Leonard discovered a new variety of a very popular perennial flower, the Coreopsis. The discovery was a complete accident!

"I was just weeding in my nursery and I happened onto one plant that had a different stem," Leonard said. He thought he’d simply stumbled onto a plant he didn’t know about. But soon he found nobody else in the nursery trade did either.

"This is a very scarce thing that happens—maybe two, three times a year in the United States will you see something like this," according to Leonard. And what he’s talking about is a white and raspberry color as opposed to the typical golden colored Coreopsis. Leonard says it’s also a heartier plant than the original and he’s calling it Sweet Dreams.

Scientists say the new plant is created as a result of radiation from the sun actually coming down and hitting the chromosomes on the leading cells of the plant. Some of the chromosomes are knocked off of the DNA chain and in this case the ones that were replaced produced a different colored flower.

It was some time after contacting wholesale nurseries before Leonard’s discovery became public. Research had to be done to make sure the flower was hardy and that it truly was something that never happened before. They also had to check for viruses and to see how easy it would bloom and propagate.

Response to Leonard’s flower has been phenomenal. In three weeks he sold 650 of them and he has a waiting list for more. If you want one of the new flowers call Leonard’s nursery, The Flower Mill, at (916) 652-8593. The address is 9280 Horseshoe Bar Rd., Loomis, CA 95650. Or you can log on to their website at www.jps.net/cleonard.