Looks like it could be Optimara Trinidad or Trinidad 2 ...

Yes, I agree. It looks like Trinidad II. But remember, our best guesses are just guesses. A NOID can't be positively ID'd.

Thank you both. I agree, it does look like 'Trinidad II.' Oddly enough, I couldn't find Trinidad II listed in their long list of AVs, but does appear on a different list (the one that shows you their "current" ones for sale). I don't know how I didn't find this one before as I did look at the second list. Oh well.

I understand, the flower colors could change and even the leaf color (it's stated as a red-reverse, but this one doesn't appear to have any red reverse yet), but at least narrowing down a name is helpful.

Thanks again, I appreciate it!

Planto

This post was edited by plantomaniac08 on Wed, Sep 17, 14 at 13:48

It looks like the one i have that is tentatively ID'd as Trinidad II, mind, mine has much darker foliage.
I don't remember if it was that way when i bought it, but right now it is quite dark, and unhappy with where i put it... when it blooms though, it's a knockout.

Karin

Karin,
Okay, that makes three votes for Trinidad II! I will hold onto the name and see if it changes over time (I think I remember reading another post just the other day of an AV who was beginning to form red reverse leaves).

I did just pick it up the other day and I know its been at the store for almost a month now. I don't think that changes could occur that fast, but maybe it's true form will show down the road. Maybe darker leaves, who knows, hehe.

Thanks,
Planto

this is it when i first got it.. it definitely is darker now....

the color is a bit off, but still, it apparently did have the red petioles at least.
{{gwi:373518}}

This post was edited by froeschli on Wed, Sep 17, 14 at 15:18

Karin,
Oh, that's gorgeous! I hope this is indeed a 'Trinidad II' in that case, I'm in love!

Planto

Hi Planto

After reading your post, I got the same plant today, so thanks for asking for the I.D. it is a warm dark orchid or plum color with shading to pale lilac rays in the centers of double blossoms.

The Optimara page is optimara.com, go to Variety Identification on the top left box and click to pull up the
chart. However, it is only a rough guide, they don't list
every single new color or plant they come out with each season. They come out with many new ones each season
that might be discontinued next season.

Sometimes the differences in the plants are so subtle, that I could study the chart ten times on ten different days and come up with ten different ideas of what the plant is supposed to be. Then when I look on the Forum, someone else just bought the same plant, and Diana or Karin will come up with another idea that seems to be correct but not one I thought of!

my local Trader Joe's just got in a shipment of new AVs.
They had two that match yours, which tells me it is new this year. The leaves are light, bright green with NO red reverse. It could be a version of Trinidad II but with a different leaf.

Optimara comes out with a new color pallette each season where they will have a nearly identical flower color and shape offered on three different leaf shapes and colors.

Another store had a selection of O's that are a reddish color or a color between dark pink and purple. I don't see it on the chart. The color of the blossoms is not one I recall seeing before. Yet there were three plants in almost the same color. One was small with darker, serrated leaves and a flower that was semi-double. Another had a large, flat, smooth leaf in a lighter color with almost the same color.

The same thing a few months ago with a white flower with dark, royal blue stripes. Sometimes on the edge, sometimes, off-center. I could go cross eyed trying to see the difference.

Other times, there might be five different traditional dark purples. Each one is subtly different.

Bright pink is another color the TJ's had today. I did not study them too closely.

My favorite is one called PinkDelight that I can find in stores. No one ever buys it, because for the casual buyer, it is not traditional. So I can always count on
finding at least one.

It can bloom very differently in my home. In the store,
it is a very pale pink with a silver ruffled edge, fully double blossom that is slightly cupped. In my home, with second bloom cycles, it is a deep mid-tone pink with larger, flatter blossoms, less ruffled on the edges, more tan than silver, still fully double.

It is more like a puzzle than anything else to study and try to figure out what I got.

Because I also have many named varieties that I often don't bother to keep labeled when I transplant them.
I do my best to label leaves when I get them and pot them up. I always think I will remember, but often, I don't. but
the colors change, anyway.

I posted some photos on the gallery. One I noted is my
"favorite color." It is a named variety, however, the stake
is long gone, so I could never again say for sure what it is unless I find the stake in my stake collection. It could well
be from a leaf salvaged from a gift plant that I had thought
I lost long ago.

Anyway, it is fun to guess. (signed) J

J,
Thank you for the information. That is odd how there are such subtle differences between the same exact AVs. Odd, but interesting. I also have a Home Depot NOID that's a deep, dark purple with ruffled edges (on the petals). It's more fuzzy leafed than my other two as well. My third one is a Optimara 'myDelight.' I am not much for pink, but I love the doubles.

I won't be surprised if the next set of blooms is off alittle bit in color (on this one). Haha.

Planto