I'm a fan of Mascara Snake. It's been a good performer for me. It went from 4 fans to 7 fans to 12 fans it's first full three years for me. I regularly see fans over 50" tall, and I often get 22-27 buds on a scape.
I've seen people unhappy with this plant because the scapes will lie down on you. I staked the taller scapes from the start, not knowing that was unusual, but that's the habit I got into with iris and other tall plants that are susceptible to high winds, especially when they have multiple blooms. So I never had that problem.
The petals and sepals are skinny and long, and the color is a rich deep red. So I like it. Works great in my garden. Blooms a little later than most of my plants. It starts around the end of July and often makes it to September for me. I keep VL Fred's Red near my Mascara Snake. Between the two of them, it's a great blast of red color for close to two months when most of your scapes are ready to be cut down.
A not so well staked Mascara Snake with Fred's Red and an Olallie VL seedling or two
