Two Colors on One Rose Bush: Sport or Sucker?

White Rose Producing Red Flowers

White rose bush has one branch with red flowers (second year in a row). Never seen this—is it normal?

Sport mutation: Genetic reversion to a red ancestor. If red flowers on same cane as white, it's a sport—may revert back.
Rootstock sucker: Dr. Huey (red climber) growing from bud union. If red flowers on entirely separate cane from base, it's a sucker—remove it or it will take over the entire bush.

Same cane = sport (interesting but harmless). Separate cane from base = sucker (destructive—remove immediately).

Roses: White/Gray Leaves on Japanese Red Maple: Need Photo; Single-Branch Decline in Yaupon Holly: Prune and Water; Why Does My Red Rose Houseplant Have One Peach Bloom?; Reviving a Large Garden Rose with Yellowing Lower Leaves; When Good Roses Turn into Red Climbers: Dr. Huey Rootstock Takeover in Multiple Plants; Rose Bush Without Buds in Milwaukee: Weather or Growth Habit?; Uneven Recovery After Black Spot: Why One Mini Rose Lags; Flowering Almond Bush with Red Berries: Prunus japonica; Why Bougainvillea Won't Bloom: Soil, Sunlight, and Fertilizer Fixes; Growing Burning Bush from Seed

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