Dance Again

SC Francis Busby - This is half the clump yesterday.

Boundless Beauty

Mississippi Magistrate

Gillian, The Tribble With Blue and Clarification

Miss Demeanor

Raspberry Twizzler

Orange Alley: Witch Haze, Orange Vols, Inca Prince

One of my Ultimate Sacrifice kids

So Irresistible

That's all for now.

So many wonderful clump shots today! Im waiting to hopefully see my first EITV bloom. My favorite today is Hoopla. Star Lord reminds me of Mary’s Baby.

Sherry

I don't know about Star Lord here. A lot of Mike's intros do not measure up to the size stated. I have yet to see Star Lord at 6 inches, let alone 6.5. And Warmer Climes is a soft yellow, not the "glowing primary yellow" described. It's not a good year to evaluate, but I am not happy with the colors and size of some of these. Mike's area is a bit milder than here, of course, and a lot of cultivars are having problems.

Raspberry Twizzler catches my eye. Entwined in the Vine here is having a bad year.

You know I always like EITV and your clump is lovely. SC Francis Busby is glorious! I got Boundless Beauty after seeing your pictures of it because I wanted one similar to Voila Francois which always bloomed in the foliage. It has not disappointed this year-so pretty! Ironically I moved VF two years ago to a better place and this year it has bloomed registered and rebloomed! Your Ultimate Sacrifice seedling appears to have a good edge. Pretty post of clumps!

Lets just say they are all my favorites.SCFB and BB wouldbe at the top of my list today. I will think about finding both for the garden.

Julia

Sherry - I really like the color of Hoopla. I hope it will be a good grower. Star Lord reminds you of Mary's Baby because MB is a parent. (My photo does not capture what a dark and true purple Star Lord is. If SL is a good grower for me, I will probably move out Mary's Baby. It has never grown well for me. Star Lord has a much taller scape (32 in.) and a bigger flower (6.5 in.), but has that incredibly dark purple look of Mary's Baby.

Debra

Mantis - I'm very pleased with Star Lord so far. I just got it in the ground last September, and it increased by a fan since then. Scapes are 28 inches tall with 6 inch blooms this year. I would expect it to attain registration stats by next year. I'm also very pleased with my other Derrow purchases. Lonesome Jaguar, Rosie With a Ring, Empire of Desire and Warmer Climes all increased and bloomed well this year. Warmer Climes is a primary yellow in cooler temps here, and sometimes a greenish yellow. With heat, everything gets lighter. The only one that is not doing that well is Steven Scott Derrow because grubs got to it this Spring. It is very short and has only three or four buds. I would have bought more Derrows this Spring, if Mike hadn't closed his garden for the year.

Debra

Julia - SC Francis Busby and Boundless Beauty always perform well here. I send you a message about them.

Kate - I'm glad both Boundless Beauty and Voila Francois are doing well for you. My EITV is a smaller clump this year since I sold a couple of divisions.

Debra

Dark Lord caught my eye too. I guess it goes to show you that different climates produce different results. Mary's Baby performs beautifully here but unfortunately I lost my large clump of her due to the February Arctic system that killed so many plants. My tree people said they had taken out over 600 Crape Myrtles that died as a result of it. With one exception my Crape Myrtles were killed almost back to the ground (but at least not dead) and will have to be retrained back to tree form over the years......................... I see that Dark Lord is an Evergreen, so that is not a plus. I look forward to hearing your comparison between it and Mary's Baby from you this year........I've grown only one Derrow (a yellow) and it was a fader so it found a new home. Can't speak for the rest of his........Not to ignore the rest of your beauties, I like the Pink Shabang. Pink with yellow edges is one of my favorite combos, and I had Bell's pink, Jim's Sweetheart Kay on my long list as it is a surprising "dormant" from him. Mississippi Magistrate is a ruffled beauty too. So many nice ones from you in this post.....................Maryl

Debra: I did get your message and messaged you back.

Julia

Maryl - Climate has nothing to do with how Mary's Baby performs here. It's the fact that grubs ate all the roots the first two years. I checked on the sunfastness of STAR Lord and my other Derrow. Steven Scott Derrow, which is descended from Mary's Baby. Neither is as sunfast as Mary's Baby, but they still have color at the end of the day. I will say All of My Love to You beats Mary's Baby for sunfastness by a hair in my garden. What a shame so many plants and trees were lost with last winter's arctic blast! So far Jim's Sweetheart Kay has not impressed me with its plant habit. I'm growing it in a pot rather than in ground at this point.

Debra

Well, I will redo my comment. This is a beautiful post with all the gorgeous clumps and blooms. I always truly enjoy the stunning clump shots of SC Francis Busby and this was a beauty. You may not be happy with the Dearest Valentine, but it is so lovely. I understand why you wanted to get the lovely Once Bitten Twice Shy.. EITV is always beautiful. What a happy clump Raspberry Twizzler is! I really do like the lovely So Irresistible. and your seedling is beautiful.

kay

kay - Thanks so much for redoing your comments! Especially thanks for the mentions about Dearest Valentine and Once Bitten Twice Shy. I'm glad you liked so many of these!

Debra

For those of you who mentioned Raspberry Twizzler, it's one by Terah George that I've had for a long time. It languished as the bed where it was planted became shadier and shadier, and it lost several fans. I moved it two falls ago and it is multiplying now, but still hasn't attained the bud counts it had during its glory days. I have successfully crossed it with one of Judy Davisson's cultivars, and I hope the pods stay on during these days in the mid 90s.

Debra

Beautiful post. My favorites are Ultimate Sacrifice kid, Dearest Valentine, and The Pink Shabang.

Brad

Thanks for your comments, Brad! Finally someone mentions The Pink Shabang. I was surprised that wasn't on anyone else's radar.

Debra

Beautiful pics!!

Thank you, mazerolm!

Debra