Greg,
It's not a package deal! You can like me and not all of my hybrids. Even I don't like some of them any more!
Of course you don't realize what things were like in 1969. With 300 plants you could have all the semp cultivars then available. Polly had everyone available in America then. In the summer EVERY ONE WAS GREEN. There were few bright reds and no good purples. That is why Helen was so excited by 'Lipstick' and 'Jungle Shadows'. Things like that hadn't existed previously. they both won awards in Europe because they hadn't seen anything like them either. Anyway, there are a few of these from the seventies that still look surprisingly good to me eyes and are proving to be interesting parents. 'Flasher', 'Frost & Flame', 'Mulberry Wine' and 'Silver Song' still find favor with me. 'Flasher' has given some incredibly bright colors like 'Orange Glow'.
Of course without 'Jungle Shadows' there would be no 'Jungle Fires' as it's a seedling of JS. They of course are apples and oranges for color. 'Jungle Fires' is RED and 'Jungle Shadows' is PURPLE AND GREY.
Kevin
