Very pretty. I have Jesse's Song but have no idea if it's a match. The problem with cameras is some shoot bluer, others redder. Especially with lavenders. And then each monitor is not the same.

There are hundreds of lav. plicatas so it would be difficult to guess. If you want to pursue its ID, write down how tall it is from ground to top of terminal (top) blossom, the number of blooms, if foliage has any tint of red at the base, how many branches, how many spurs if any, double socket blooms or no, progression of bloooms opening. There may be more I'm forgetting. Close-up shot of bloom in focus. Shot of base of foliage if there is any purple to it. Shot of entire stalk showing all branching. The branching is a better tip off than height (varies with weather & nutrition).

Can you say it is older than ____? Do you know what nursery it came from?

Are any other plicatas blooming in your area now? Ask around, even at nurseries who employ plant lovers.

I keep all this info in its filenames ie. noid lav plic 36in 1stBlm4-8 and noid lav plic 7buds 2 brnch.

Keep taking pics! You can embed them in your post if you copy the HTML Code from Photobucket and paste it in your message.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I will see about measuring it. Can you help me with the term "spur"? There are three other buds on the plant at the moment, one right under the open bloom and two others further down the same stalk. I thought it was going to be a deeper purple, based on the shade of the buds. I planted it last fall, mid to late September. I will jot down all the other info as you suggested and try going from there. I have been looking at pics on Blue J, but nothing seems to quite fit. Thanks for your help. I will post most more pics and the other things that you mentioned as well.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=743255&l=a5e0639ee6&id=1579387282

There are five fans, the plant is about 31.5 inches tall from base to the top of the highest flower, there is no color at the base of the foliage. There are currently two branches: the main branch has three flowers (2 buds and the open flower on top); the second branch has two buds. I thought the flowers were going to be a much darker purple, based on the buds, but when this one opened, it was much lighter.

Iris Gal, I looked at Jesse's Song, and it seems like a contender. I saw some pictures of Violet Shimmer and American Classic that also seem possible. A lot of the photos of different lavendar plicatas seem to have very distinct stitching, but the white on mine appears more indistinct.

Good info. Beard color looks white. The standards should be more open tomorrow - get a picture showing the entire beard and the style arms.

American Classic - no fall dotting, beards don't look like a match, standards show too much white area.

Violet Shimmer - falls look like a match. Oops, beards not a match. And standards don't show enuf white.

Jesse's Song - don't know. It does Not have purple base foliage (PBF) so that's a match. The beards are yellow down inside - what are yours? That could disqualify it. Yours is taller than what is listed. But that varies with weather, location & soil. I mentioned it because it was very widely distributed.

What a nice sight for your return.

A spur is a really short branch. More like a stub with a flower.

Darn, my message is being rejected when I paste your facebook link.

Mine does have yellow beards inside that go white as they leave the flower. I will get some more open shots in the morning. I may have to change the privacy settings for my photos in FB. In the meantime, I have uploaded some more that I took today into Photobucket. Now, let's just see if I can figure out what I did wrong earlier...
http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h99/12guineapigs/?action=view¤t=DSC04738.jpg

Here is a link that might be useful: