Miss Congeniality

[farmer d]

I have been very impressed by this new CV since receiving a 6" plant back in April.  It has dark shiny leaves, grows upright very nicely and boy does it like to bloom.  The top of mine came damaged from shipping and it really bounced back fast so I could see that this plant is no wimp.

I know the bio for the plant on HVH makes the blooms sound ok so I was really surprised at the intricate detail and complex combinations of colors in the blooms.  The eye is a rich burgundy/magenta with combinations of grey, purple, pink, and silver streaked by white rays and a pretty magenta edge on every bloom.

Also the blooms last for three days each so you definitely get your money's worth.  My plant gets morning sun so a little bit of fading at first but then it really holds it's colors for the duration of the bloom.  This is a great CV for sure.




















Farmer D

[Charlie]

Nice presentation, Farmer D. The other quality I like is the amount of blooming when the bushes develop a lot of side branches. Hopefully it will branch out naturally as it grows. Some do this while other require pruning to get a lot of branches. The Bold and Beautiful you mentioned not long ago is one that suddenly puts out a huge number of side branches as it matures. Rainbow Sherbet is one that doesn't do that and needs to be pruned to force branching. I'm not sure which type Miss Congeniality is since all our plants of her have been cut many times to take wood to make more plants.

Charlie

[farmer d]

Charlie you're right on with the side branching with Miss Congeniality.  I'll take some close up pics tomorrow to show how it is already growing several branches from the base of the plant even though it is so tall already.  This is going to be one amazing bush in a few years with the branching and prolific blooms.

I'm not sure which CV you're referring to with Bold & The Beautiful as that is one I don't have...interestingly though my Rainbow Sherbet has responded very well to SuperNova spraying and has many many new branches all of the place.  You'll be amazed at what a well shaped and attractive bush this CV is as it's turning out to be one of my nicest ones I have currently and is even giving COF a run for it's money (minus the bloom count).  I'll post some pics of it as well here for comparison. 

Again my experiment this year has been to see what I can get out of spraying with SuperNova before I commit to any pruning later this season.  Almost all of my plants have responded well to SN with much new branching.  Now I want to see if the bud count gets anywhere near what we have seen with bushes like LisaG's Bridal Path and Len's Flickering Flame. 

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Here are some shots of the plentiful side branching occurring at the base of the bush.  This CV seems to know what it's doing without much help...again I'm very impressed with this one.







Farmer D

[Charlie]

Darren, thanks for showing these. The side branching is definitely getting started.

My comments about Rainbow Sherbet and most others is based on how the young plants just bumped up into 1 gallon pots grow. I usually have only a few months to take them from small plants in 4 inch pots to fully branched, budded up plants in 1 gallon pots. That is the goal for 1 gallons at the time of shipping. Some varieties do this very well, Simple Pleasures for instance, while others take more time and only give us 2 or 3 stems in the time frame mentioned. Rainbow Sherbet is in the latter category.

This does not speak to how a bigger plant can mature. As your photos show Rainbow Sherbet becomes one of the bigger, fuller plants as it grows to maturity. It is close to the top of our sales list so I am very glad to see your results.

Bold and Beautiful is almost the twin of Prosperity in terms of growth habit. Both grow tall and then branch out amazingly. I really want to see how yours does as it matures.

Charlie

[Doll]

Another one that branches out quite nicely on its own is Compassion. It is not as fast a grower as Prosperity or Bold and Beautiful, but has bloomed much better than the other two so far.

[farmer d]

A few more shots and permanent for the forum server...

Farmer D

[Charlie]

Thanks, Farmer D! Those are great shots of Miss Congeniality.

Charlie