The Case of the Mysterious Marigolds

(I've been watching old Perry Mason reruns.)

I contacted the University of Missouri extension agent stationed in Jefferson City about that bizarre marigold with the two different varieties of blossoms, and he in turn contacted an MU floriculture specialist.  We're all in the process of speculating at this point in hopes of hitting upon the explanation.

The first suggestion from the floriculture specialist was that this was a sectorial chimera - essentially a rare random mutated gene expression.  But when the same phenomenon was produced on three other plants, that theory went out the window.  He then decided that it was probably a case of a mahogany marigold fading to yellow, but that's not the case either, as both varieties start out with their individual colors and forms and don't fade until they turn brown in dying.

The extension agent wondered about a change in weather producing the difference, but that theory is also a no-go due to the subsequent plants, growing under a stable weather pattern, producing the same effects.

I noticed that the first flower on each of these plants is the yellow form, and the second one red.  So I'm wondering if there is a gene expression that is not "turned on" until after the first flower blooms.  I won't be able to know if that's a possibility until some more flowers bloom and I see what color/form they take.  Now I'm watching these flowers several times a day, anxious to see a new blossom.  (Indeed it seems, a watched pot never boils.  But I can personally attest to the fact that an unwatched one will boil over.)

I also put a bag on one of the newly opening red blossoms, and when (if) I get another yellow one, I'll bag it as soon as I can tell it's going to be a yellow one.  My hope here is that, while it will prevent cross-pollination, marigolds being self-fertile, I'll still get some viable seeds to plant out and see what the next generation does.

If we don't come up with an explanation, I'm going to attribute this strangeness to the noon marker in my sun dial:

I think I can make a case.  Just look at this strange anthill formation that's in the marigold plot:

Stay tuned!

UPDATE 6/9:

The plants have continued producing only the red flowers, fading to orange.  Two of those plants, however, are producing a form of the flower that neither of the parent plants had - a single row of red petals with a yellow center.  This blended form is what I would have expected if anything out of the ordinary happened due to a cross between the two types.  I still can't explain the one yellow flower they started with.