Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Venous Blood (Huben 11)


50 M 4.5, Purple Self, Dor Dip
Sobek 93.36 * Red Spire
Seedling number: MH0379B

I want clear, sunfast colors on graceful, species-like plants, and Venous Blood delivers them.

The color of Venous Blood is a clear, velvety red-purple that can reflect light off the velvet.  It glows beautifully when backlit, highlighting the yellow-green throat.  It doesn't slick for me, though it can look dull in drought conditions.

What do I mean by species-like?  Tall, graceful scapes with excellent branching and budcount.  (5 branches, 34 buds.)  Flowers that avoid the baroque fashions, and resemble the species in size,  form, and simplicity.  Vigorous, rapid increase even in poor conditions in the north.

If you'd like a flower that dances at chest height on slender, swaying scapes for 4 weeks (no rebloom here), this is a great one for an accent or the back of the border.  It's a little large for a tall-and-small program, but that's hardly a fault in the garden.  If we wanted all short plants, we could stick to petunias!

No comments: