Very cool flowers! How well do they keep their color?

Lovely! Love the puffs on the petals!

The flowers maintain their color very well, Paul. The largest flower that's fully open in the photo, near the top of the plant, is as faded as it gets.

I have this one as well and it just arrived a week ago from the Violet Barn. Yours is stunning! I also got a few other Russians from them and I am really looking forward to seeing them flower. Thank you for sharing your photo with us! Do keep in mind that Russian AV's tend to produce much paler flowers (with a lot more white) in the cold winter months and stronger, deeper colored flowers with more color in the warmer seasons. So don't let that alarm you.