I wasn't planning on starting a topic on this one yet but MAN the bush on this CV is exploding in size like I've never seen. What is amazing about VB is that the bush is an absolutely perfect ball of a bush. I have never pruned one branch on this plant either.
I got this plant last April as a baby and it did practically nothing the whole year. I was stumped as well as disappointed and came to the conclusion that either this CV doesn't like my climate or the nearby sprinkler head was drenching it with too much water. Finally changed the sprinkler so that VB stayed dry and lo and behold this spring new growth showed up.
And then more with it's first buds/blooms and then it went back into a pure growth mode and this is where it just went bonkers. After three months of really heavy growing it is now got buds all over and looking like a model CV.
I know the blooms aren't as dramatic as Vin Extraordinaire but the purple is really a joy to see. A soft wine color is the best way to describe it along with the large red eye zone that give the blooms a ton of personality.
This plant has really impressed me and I can see that it has a tremendous future outdoors. There will be a lot of bloom pics soon as all these buds are growing by the day.
Farmer D
