You know .... I looked at the pedigree of Neon Rainbow and saw "sdlg x Court Magician". Looking at the one known parent, Court Magician... it has a 4.0 susceptibility rating. So I should not have been surprised by the rust I am seeing on it's child. I liked it's pretty face, so decided to grow it anyway....
Even the rusty ones can be used in a hybridizing program if you cross it with cultivars that show strong rust resistance.
One of my favorite hybridizing plants is Dragonfly Dawn. I have seen rust on the 4 children I have. (I do NOT have DD, just had seeds from a cross with itself.) I love the pretty faces. It is not a rust bucket, but these children do show rust in at least the 2.5 to 3.5 range. So my intent is to cross them with some of my very strong rust resistant cultivars. I don't rule out the pretty faces, I have plans to just make children from them using one highly rust resistant parent.
