They are veins, not actual stripes. Not sure if I will introduce as there are a lot of violet ones out there. I will certainly use it as the form is nice.

Yes, It is ! It reminds me somehow of an arilbred. If you decide to intro, I'll be your first customer !!...Arlyn

Of my TB seedlings that had their maiden bloom last spring, this was one of my favorites:



There are some introduced TBs that are, in a general sense, similar in color (Richard Ernst's 'Amethyst Dancer' is just one of several). But, I've never seen anything that was quite like this seedling. The beards and the texture veining in the falls help set it apart.

All of its siblings shared that texture veining to one degree or another. This one was probably the best from a technical standpoint, it has wonderful branching and bud count and it is such a strong grower that I was comfortable sending a couple of rhizomes from it to Portland for the convention next year even though it had only been in the garden for a year. Naturally, it has the most ordinary flower color of all of its siblings. But, the texture veining helps offset that somewhat.



Another sibling, very similar to the last except the flower is obviously more towards red end of the spectrum.



Another sibling. This one reminds me a lot of Kerr's 'Only in Dreams', but I kept it anyway. I just like it, it's a soothing color.

I really liked the one with the reddish tint. I would guess that the climate in NE needs hardy plants so that is a great trait for all of them.

I agree with Lucy on the reddish tint cultivar. How was the branching and bud count on that one ?

Pretty similar to the purple bitone. It didn't seem to be quite as vigorous, though. Not a bad grower by any means, just not as good as its sister.

I like the second one a lot, also the redish one.

I liked all but the last one -- guess I've seen that color combination enough. The form on it is nice, though. The other three are wonderful -- with emphasis on the reddish one as well!

Lucy -- I like gaudy -- so I liked your red one the best!!

I like Lucy's red one a lot.

Like the second one of Kent's best.

Second and second to last.

I'm curious Kent -- which one(s) are your favorites?

Lucy I like the Red one nice color

Kent Thanks for sharing these !! The one that looks like Only In Dreams is my favorite and next would have to be the yellow with the light blue beards thats a nice combo to keep working on. I really like the first group hopefully your bloom season is better this year and you can see more of them.

Muddymitts said:I'm curious Kent -- which one(s) are your favorites?

Of the last group, or just in general?

In the last group, I love the ruffly form of the second one and also how the blue color deepens at the base of the standards and fall hafts. The brown beards are a bit weird, but they are certainly different.

People have been trying to put blue beards on yellow TBs for years without quite getting there. The second to last seedling doesn't get there either, it's beards are just powder blue at the end and obviously the falls mostly white. It's interesting to think about how to go forward with it, though.

On the last one, I like the wash of color on the falls right below the beards. Just wish the standards were brighter.

For what it's worth, the last three are siblings.

#2 the blue is my favorite.

Thanks to everyone for the MTB comments. I have a better photo of the red, but it would be more difficult to find as it is on the disc rather than in a folder. I don't do well with the computer.

See -- that's what's fun about this (Kent) -- knowing where you were trying to go, what you think of the results, and where you want to go from here. I can see why this is so fascinating to (you) hybridizers and how you can get sucked in to raising hundreds and hundreds of seedlings -- looking for that one that you're after. I wouldn't DARE even start this -- I can be O/C, and don't need this complication in my life!! But it's great to be able to travel your path with you -- and Brad, and Marvin, and Dennis, and Lucy............

Some SDBs.


















They're all from the same cross involving 'Bib Blue Eyes' and this seedling:

I want ALLLLLL of them!!! Wow!

I'm not an SDB fan -- but I love the cream and gold one (picture #2).