Thanks Paul and Maryann: So to sum it up, I guess if you are selling, trading, or giving away plants........as you say......."plants cannot be counted upon to remain true to name"......so you just have to be happy with whatever they turn out to be. No guarantee on anything. This advice is something all gardeners have to share and realize that they cannot rely on pictures when they purchase plants, there are absolutely no guarantees. The ideal situation of being able to look at a beautiful plant thru pictures or at a nursery or garden center with hopes it will bloom true to the picture.......just sheds some light on things and really makes me think before I put my money out there again. Yes, I have seen this a lot in the hostas. Spilt Milk is just one example of this. We all understand that color varies because of the ink quality used in printing pictures. We do not want to start that discussion, we all realize this.
Most gardeners have experienced it in some form or another with other plants as you are mentioning.....hostas, grasses, etc, and so forth. I guess to really sum it up is that folks need to pay attention to how much they are spending and realize they probably will not be able to rely on it to bloom "true to name" year after year. Too bad the price does not reflect this, perhaps the prices should go down or buyers need to ask for refunds if this is going to be happening ......as you say......."plants cannot be counted upon to remain true to name."
I would say as a home gardener, there is just way too much experimenting out there. Perhaps things should be tested longer before they are put on the market, then they would be tried and tested. Five years must not be long enough. Trials gardens need to be set up in every zone for testing........probably not going to happen. Very informative and perhaps getting off the subject of the iris, sorry. Looks like we have another topic.
