There have been more than a few "boo boos" over the years. Often I've berated myself for my own stupidity when buying cultivars that I should know will not thrive in this climate. A more difficult issue to deal with is plants that turn out OK vigor wise, but then never resemble the intriguing pictures that help persuade us that we "must have it" .....it is always better to see the plant in person, a tough lesson. Sometimes that isn't possible so one learns through trial and error that some hybridizer's images represent their cultivars more accurately than others. I have grown to deeply appreciate those hybridizers who take the time to show several images of a cultivar on their website, and also to take other images with a grain of salt. Nowadays I mostly purchase plants directly from hybridizers whose plants have proven themselves in the past and whose images have proven over time to be accurate in my garden as well as theirs.
The most recent "regret" has been 'Caesar Augustus,' which although registered in 2007, was not actually introduced until around 2010 or 2011. ( can't remember) I jumped on the bandwagon when the hybridizer listed it on his website because it appeared to have a distinctly unique pattern. The issue is NOT with the plant's vigor here, it actually has increased fairly well. The issue is that the plant has never looked much like the quite distinctive bloom that this plant apparently showed in FL. I should have known that and have kicked myself several times, in fact every time I've seen the bloom. I sold 6 fans from the clump this summer, was going to get rid of it but at the last minute, had a bit of buyers remorse, and kept 3 fans and moved it to an absolutely perfect spot to see if performance improves. Well, one can hope. It's got two more years.
