Tet. Ht 44″ dia 7″, br 2 bc 15, semi, M
Persian Ruby x Bali Watercolor
Deep red, with a velvety, at the time near black sheen. The color of the bloom contrasts with the striking green to citron throat. Chasing the Dragon shows beautiful traits of both parents. The velvet surface comes from Persian Ruby, though it is darker than PR. While this is typical, if conditions are right, it leans more purple because of the Bali Watercolor influence (that is how it looked when first selected). It showed the darker red color when we moved it to the farm, and I suspect the color shift has to do with soil. Debís niece had hers in Ohio, and the image she sent was of a strong dark purple flower.
It puts on a great show during peak bloom and shows garden presence from 100 feet away. It is particularly fine at clump strength, and it clumps quickly (a couple fans planted at the farm 2007 increased to more than 90 divisions for our region in 2015). This would likely be slow increase in the south, but in central Iowa it is exceptional. I have received numerous complements on CTD both in person and by e-mail, and it won region oneís pop poll this past year.
Pod and pollen fertile, the branching and bud count in the registration stats were taken from an overgrown clump. It often has three branches with bud counts in the high teens to low twenties.
