I have to agree with what others have said about the height of Orange Velvet. It seems that my clump gets taller than the registered 30". It is near the front of the flower bed (wrong place, I know) and many years it has reached almost up to the shoulders of my 5'3" height.
I've had it since 2016 and it has multiplied quickly. I've not seen rust on it. The scapes are thick and sturdy. Branching is usually 3-way, but some scapes are just 2-way. Bud count is probably between 12-18. Examples from 2020 and 2021:
I can see why there was some confusion about being a bi-tone (but it is definitely not a bi-color). It can look like a bi-tone when the sun has faded it. The sepals do look a shade or two lighter than the petals. This picture was taken at 5pm.
I have recorded two years with rebloom scapes on OV and it is unusual for me to see rebloom. Last year, I had 2 months of blooms on OV with the help of this rebloom scape, which even had a poly bloom on 8/28/22. The second picture shows the branching with the poly bloom facing to the right.
With its tall, thick scapes, its long wide leaves, and its large blooms, it can be a behemoth in the garden. I only had it one year when a fellow club member saw where I had planted it and just shook his head and laughed. He knew I had put it in the wrong place. By the third year of bloom, I saw what he was laughing about, lol. Orange Velvet is on the far right... it needs a spot all its own!
July 14, 2019
June 28, 2022
July 8, 2022
June 27, 2020 - it is an EMO, fully open by 6:30am.
