Jungle Beauty is impressive to me on several levels. With five branches per scape, it's definitely a keeper in my hybridizing program. The scapes are also nice and thick, so you don't have to worry about them bending too much or needing staked. Sadly, when I purchased it and planted it in my garden, we had a dry heat for a couple of weeks and my Jungle Beauty lost over 50% of its buds/branches. In my garden, it bloomed from
8/1/15 - 8/18/15, but it might have bloomed longer if I didn't have so much die-off from the transplant/hot weather. Hopefully, next year it will get a full set of buds.
Even still, I love it's near-black color...it is REALLY dark; the contrast between the black-red coloring and the green-ish throat is very striking and beautiful. The blooms are slightly smaller than I would like, they are only average size and I like BIG blooms, but that's okay. The petal consistency was average to just above average consistency and the color saturation is excellent, although I did have some odd coloring (a few splotches) on the first 1-2 blooms after it was transplanted. After it settled in, though, it gave me beautiful blooms. The buds *can* be temperamental about opening after transplant, though:
I do recommend Jungle Beauty for the garden and I think it would be lovely planted among some bright orange daylilies or with other deep reds and purples of varying shades. This would also do well in a black and white garden scheme, especially if you plant it among something with dainty white flowers that bloom in the summer (think something like white allyssum or baby's breath, but maybe grows a little taller so that it can get closer to the level of the black-red blooms of Jungle Beauty.)
All-in-all, I would say that this plant is a little touchy about being transplanted (or maybe just doesn't behave as well upon first blooming), but it is definitely a worthwhile plant for the color, the bud/branch count, and the nice, thick scapes.
[NOTE: The above pictures were of first blooms...for some reason I don't seem to have pictures of 'normal' blooms for this plant. If I find some, I'll try to remember to post them.]
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