The blue streak is all of the blue you normally see on GPHs when their wings are up, which is just about all the time! On the rare occasions you get to see their wings topside, they're iridescent blue all over, very beautiful! I saw the white GPH again, on the same group of vines, a mixture of passiflora incarnata, p. biflora, and honeyvine/cynanchum laeve. I think it's the honeyvine that's attracting the hairstreaks - there were at least 3 red-banded hairstreaks out there today, nectaring on the flowers, but I see all kinds of butterflies and other insects "nectaring" on the leaves! I assume it must be the residue or honeydew left by the jillions of aphids covering so much of the honeyvines! :( Here's a picture of two of the red-banded hairstreaks - MissSherry

'Would you serve these to your friends at a dinner party?' Honestly, no, I wouldn't and I am a very parsimonious cook. Not because of the colour per se but because the heads are overmature and on the verge of flowering. So yes, either someone waited too long to harvest or it is quite a while since they were picked. They don't look at all fresh. Cook a bit for yourself and you will probably taste the problem.

I find purple roses are more true purple in cool weather and Ebb Tide, at least, fades a lot when temps heat up. Ascot and Twilight Zone don't fade much and I haven't seen any differences in Love song, Angel Face, or Blue Bayou. Big Purple (it's gone) turned magenta in the heat, and Blueberry Hill faded to white (it's gone) in the heat.Love song in the heat and newly planted. Tough rose, except in cold. Diane

Japanese barberries are invasive in many areas of zone 5 (seeding via birds into wild areas) so you should check to see if it's an issue in your area via a web search that includes your state name, "Berberis", and "invasive". The thorny branches also catch blowing leaves and trash, so they aren't one of my favorite plants, having grown up with them. Depending on where you are, some forms of Physocarpus are susceptible to mildew, so here's an article that rates them accordingly. FWIW, I have Tiny Wine and Coppertina, which is one of the most susceptible, and neither has had any difficulty here, so depending on where you are, this may or may not be something you need to worry about. Most folks who comment on it are in the midwest. Check out the various red-leafed Weigelas, Rhododendrons PJM and Landmark, and dark-leafed elderberries (Sambucus). If you can find one, Emperor I Japanese maple should be hardy for you and has deep red leaves. There are also a number of perennials with dark red leaves. If you want to add your zone and a general location to your profile so that it posts next to your name every time you post, here's how: Go to Your Houzz in the upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone. If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.