Regarding this cultivar, it apparently likes the south best - a true Southern belle. Jim Murphy ( who lives near me) says it limps along for him,, survives but doesn't bloom well and they know how to grow plants. I got CK a few years ago when it was new, and it died within a few months. Didn't try it again. Most plants do well here, and if one is wimpy enough to die that quickly, I'm not going to mess with it. But I'd never seen it growing at full size until seeing the blooms in MS this past summer. I'd seen it 3-4 times in various gardens but the blooms weren't over 5". When I saw it growing at the 6.5" registered size, I nearly freaked, as I hadn't looked it up previously and had no idea the bloom actually grew that large. Oh well, beautiful face, but will have to admire it from afar.
Hint about using the AHS Database : never type in the full name. The current registrar taught me that years ago. Sometimes punctuation or spelling errors or even too many spaces will cause it not to come up. This one pulled up easily when I typed in "Cosmic Kal" .
Here's another pic taken in the Watts garden of the same cultivar. It has always looked pinker than the registration image every time I've seen it.
