Carol23! Again FTW! You're the best. Thanks again.

Blanca is correct... although, the flower should still look sufficiently like the variety it is intended to be. In other words, it should still be recognizable as a particular variety. If you bought an Apple Blossom, it should resemble an Apple Blossom, and so on. Half of any living thing is genetic... the other half is environmental. This means that an Apple Blossom in my hands might show slight differences than the same variety in another grower's hands, due to variables like temperature, light, water, fertilizer, overall care, etc... even slight differences will occur within the variety, itself, from grower to grower. However, all Apple Blossoms should be recognizable as Apple Blossoms. It appears that this season has brought us some very stressed bulbs that are not performing up to par. While most are South African grown, there are a few others that are exhibiting behavior reserved for stressed bulbs. Granted, the trip from South Africa to America, by way of The Netherlands, would stress any plant... so I think a stressed first season's bloom from the Hadeco bulbs is to be expected. What we don't expect, however, is to have every other bulb we purchase turn out to be something completely different! Mislabels abounded last year, and it appears that the problem has been magnified this year! Most consummate bulb growers immediately contact the seller upon finding out their purchases are not what they ordered, and most companies happily replace the varieties or refund the price. One would think that so many refunds and replacements would signal a company that something was amiss! One would also think that these companies would contact their suppliers and seek some answers. Since the world trade industry revolves around money and taxes, I think most retailers simply write off their given refunds, replacements and credits as expected loss, and do nothing more about it. The bulbs are popular enough that a few lost patrons will be replaced by several new ones the following season. And let's face it, most purchasers not of our ilk don't recognize one variety from the next, nor do they care overly much... they just want those large and lovely flowers gracing their homes for the Holiday Season. I couldn't guess at how many of these bulbs end up at landfills or on compost piles, bought as disposable items meant to be enjoyed for only a short time. To us, this is a huge shame... this is all a huge shame! I fear there is nothing to be done about this situation, except to keep trying for those elusive varieties we think we're purchasing, and to keep lodging our complaints in exchange for replacements, credits, and/or refunds. Such is the world we live in... disposable and money oriented. New varieties are introduced... others discontinued to fade into oblivion, with collectors such as ourselves their only salvation. Though we should get the exact product we pay for, I've decided to think of mislabels as surprises, and excuses to keep searching for the varieties I want. Yes, it can be maddening to end up with more Red Lions than I want to have... but in the end, they're all beauties that will continue to delight and amaze me, year after year after year!

Lol, I bought a shrub like that. All it was was a stick with nothing but a little bushy side branch. I can't figure how that will ever grow into a shrub. I am letting it grow and will try to root the one little bushy branch later to be the main shrub. Its pitifully ugly. Lucy you know we are having a cold front Wednesday I hope. High in the 40's. Hope we don't end up with a sneaky freeze.

Somehow I missed this post. There are so many people posting pics now that it's hard to keep up. Your photo of Eyes A Blue is really exquisite. That one's often hard to capture. It has a lot of different looks in my garden. I also love how big and round Macho Macho Man looks. Debra