What do flowers and sports have in common?

I’m not really a flower gardener but the lady that lived for an eternity in our house before we bought it was and she left behind a legacy of beautiful flowers all over the property. One of which is the Bearded Iris that blooms every Spring under the HUGE Pecan tree, of all places. It blooms in the partial shade only because the Pecan tree does not have its full canopy of leaves yet. Irises need a lot of sun. Normally the blooms are purple but this year we had Yellow and White Irises bloom. I was very surprised! So I had to find out why. I’ve learned a few things and here they are. Irises have horizontal roots that are called rhizomes and they are just below the surface. Sometimes the rhizomes can mutate and grow totally new colors, this is called "throwing a sport". Funny way to describe it. If you'd like to know more about growing Irises and other bulb based flowers in Georgia check out this great PDF guide created by the University of Georgia. 

Flowering Bulbs for Georgia Gardens - UGA PDF

Bearded Iris. The sport! This one was new in my yard this year. 

Purple Bearded Iris