Ring of Fire

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Charlie,

I was curious to hear your opinion of this older Barry CV.  It is parent to the very impressive Chariots of Fire, so it must have some good qualities.  

[Charlie]

I grew Ring of Fire for many years, and saw my last plant of it sometime in the last couple of years. Not sure if it survives now or not. In some ways you could say it was a less vigorous Chariots. It bloomed well and was upright with multiple thin stems, but did not branch out and become a big strong bush the way Chariots can. The Path definitely helped in that dept. The flowers of ROF, particularly in summer heat, were medium sized but very nicely colored with lots of yellow spots contrasting with the red petals. When I visited Barry in Houston maybe a decade ago there was a nice bush of ROF blooming and I recall that the blooms appeared a little different than I was used to - probably because his was outside in no shade and mine were in the hotter greenhouse but under shade paint. Less spotting on his that day.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Thanks for those comments Charlie, it sounds like it is an oldie but goodie.  It doesnt seem like it was used too much in hybridizing, would be interesting to cross with some of your more modern vigorous CVs.