Last year I bought a Dracula vampire 'Night Stripes' and paid extra because it is reputed to be one of the better vampire clones with huge flowers up to a foot in spread. Later on in the year the small plant bloomed with a wimpy 5" flower. Naturally I was disappointed but the vendor, who enjoys a sterling reputation, also is a personal friend of mine so I bit my tongue and decided to wait a year before complaining.

This spring it made one 8" flower that looked much better and now has a flush of 6, the first of which just opened up with a stunning spread of 11", deep black colors and a flat presentation. Only the most stunning vampire I ever bloomed.

This is a good example of why one needs to give new plants space to adjust to a new environment and allow to reach them full maturity before judging the quality of their flowers. Then of course there is the matter of culture. Just because a plant grows and blooms does not mean it is truly happy. If it were a little more shady or sunny, a little cooler or warmer, maybe it would do even better.

Then there is the matter of a huge Dracula felix 'Le Chat' that is growing in an 8" deep net pot. It must have way over 100 leaves and is in fresh moss. It's surrounded by other Dracs who are very happy in their surroundings. This plant produced about 20 flowers this spring, a huge disappointment as this species produces flushes of several 100 pus flowers on smaller plants than mine. It's not happy and I don't know why. It produces healthy new leaves, is not loosing old leaves but has never produced the flush one expects from this species. I'm moving it around to different locations to see if I can make it happy.

I also made about 5 divisions of small pieces of it and am growing these in different media and in different locations to see if I can make one happy. I guess the point of all this is that a lot more than the pure genetics of a great plant goes into a great flower presentation.

Nick