Persian Ruby is showing very blotchy blooms at the beginning of its bloom season. Is this normal for the early blooms of a cultivar with dark-colored flowers? Is there a remedy?
Thank you!

Boy, I will be watching this thread. Many of my nicest cultivars do this and I would love to know why.

Looks like thrips damage. Thrips favor red and purple blooms. Treatment has been discussed ad infinitum on this forum.

A very simple solution I've used before is Murphy's Oil soap and water. It's been a while, I believe it is one tablespoon per gallon of water. Spray it on the buds 4-7 days before bloom. Can be repeated weekly as needed.

I have those marks on some of mine. Certain ones seem to be affected more than others--no rhyme nor reason that I can see. It is earwig damage here.

I absolutely HATE earwigs!! Strangely, the first time I ever saw one was in the garden ( can remember the name/location but won't say it publicly) where I was taking my first garden judges course, taught by then AHS President, Kay Day, and Region 3 instructor par excellence, Pat Bennett. This was so long ago, 2000, that only one class was needed to become a garden judge. I remember watching this insect in horrified fascination as it chewed an old bloom while we were supposed to be listening to the instructions about what to look for in a good garden plant. This monster had jaws!! So ugly, and this garden had a lot of them. I have since found out that you can almost completely eliminate earwigs by taking old blooms off each evening instead of waiting until morning. I've live headed here ever since and haven't seen an earwig here in years.

Chickens think earwigs are jelly beans My hens search through the daylilies for them. The hens will surround me in late summer when I start to cut foliage back and dive in to grab them as they jump out. Now if I could just get them to eat the tarnish plant bugs...