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MOLTEN MOON – Hunter-L. 2025

An Unusual Form Crispate, ‘Molten Moon’ is from a packet of seeds that would have stayed in my refrigerator more years than I care to admit, if Luna hadn’t decided that she wanted to plant them in her seedling patch. Apparently she saw potential in this cross that I ignored. This is her 4th registration, so she’d pretty good at that.

This addition to her moon themed introductions is tiger orange with darker veining, a green heart, and a large gold throat that expands onto the petals and sepals. There is a prominent gold rib on the pinched petals. The petals and sepals lighten towards the outer edge, sometimes ending in a fine gold line. Subtle ruffles on the petals complete the package. ‘Molten Moon’ is very showy, and stands out from a distance. It’s fertile both ways with offspring in the wings.

HUNTER’S MOONLIGHT – Hunter-L. 2025

When I have extra seeds, I offer them to my granddaughters, because they can only hybridize for the few days that they visit Illinois in the summer. Luna lives in a ‘brownstone walk up’, so doesn’t have access to her own patch of garden. At the end of the season, I make power point slides of crosses that I haven’t used, showing the 2 parents, and let them pick a few seed packets to add to their own harvest. Luna has managed twice to pick crosses that I took a pass on and come up with a winner. ‘Hunter’s Moonlight’ is one of them.

The sepals on this Unusual Form crispate regularly quill, and sometimes are spatulate on the ends. The petals have big loose ruffles that are edged in cream. The overall color is pale rose to pale peach, depending on the lighting. A green heart expands to a yellow throat which becomes washed lavender as it reaches the rose eyeliner on the petals.

‘Hunter’s Moonlight’ has nice branching that is wide enough to display the large flowers without interference. It is pod fertile. The pollen hasn’t been used, but looks good.

DRAGON FRUIT SWIRL – Hunter-A.C. 2025

This is another plant that Aurora created using ‘Stack the Deck’. She had just turned 7 when she was out in the garden with me, dabbing away. ‘Dragon Fruit Swirl’ shares many characteristics with its half-sibling, ‘Cranberry Curls’.

The petals and sepals have cream ribs and edges. Sepals curl back from the yellow throat which extends from a green heart. The bloom is a saturated burgundy with a slightly darker eye, which provides an eye-catching contrast with the cream ribs. Its petals have a hint of a pinch. Blooms are very consistent and displayed nicely on the tree-like branching. ‘Dragon Fruit Swirl’ is easily fertile both ways, and we hope to see some nice offspring from it.

Cranberry Curls – Hunter-A.C. 2025

A big flower, created by a little girl. Aurora was only 6 years old when she dabbed pollen on ‘Stack the Deck’. She chose a good flower to pollinate, even though it was likely just the bright bloom that attracted her. It proved to be a great parent, passing on its nice tree-like branching, good substance, and saturated color.

‘Cranberry Curls’ is an Unusual Form Crispate. Its burgundy petals are pinched and the sepals curl back. Narrow cream midribs match the fine cream edges on the petals and sepals. The green heart blends into a large yellow throat that expands out onto both the petals and sepals. The star shaped throat then washes to cream before meeting the burgundy of the tepals.

Both Aurora and I have used Cranberry Curls in our hybridizing, Like its pod parent, it passes on nice branching, substance, and saturated color to its offspring. A few of them are pictured below, where you can see that it also passes on its unusual form. We have only used the pollen, so pod fertility is unknown.

EVEREADY BUNNISOO – Hunter 2025

This girl just keeps on goin’ and goin’. Know anybody like that? She sent up rebloom scapes in her first bloom season, having been in the ground only 1 year. Her excellent plant habit was commented on by my hybridizing mentor, Ginny Pearce, when she visited my garden that year. I’ve seen rebloom every year since then, despite winters without snow and summers without rain. The 2-year-old clump was quite impressive, with no help from me in the form of fertilizer or water or chemicals. The only leg-up that I take credit for was planting her in good native soil, in full sun.

The bloom is Fuchsia with a pale pink watermarked eye. There is a fine,  lightly ruffled cream edge on both petals and sepals, and a green heart that blends into a citron throat. Bunnisoo often has pinched petals, but not consistently enough to be registered as an unusual form. She will occasionally have spots in the morning when it is very humid, but if she is spotless in the morning, her substance will keep her looking good till dark. Her vigor is demonstrated in the line-out photo, where she sent up rebloom scapes even after being divided into double fans . Bunisoo is easily fertile both ways and passes on rebloom with good branching and pretty faces!

GALINDA’S PETTICOAT – Hunter 2025

The flower on this plant is very ‘girly’ looking, hence the reference to the Good Witch in ‘Wicked’. When she’s in full bloom, it’s a lot of pink! The pod parent, ‘Margo Reed Indeed’ is responsible for the ruffles, while ‘Adena Bounce’, gets credit for the branching. Neither of them is pink, so that was a pleasant surprise. With proliferations on most scapes, which often bloom, Galinda presents as a lovely frilly bouquet.

The baby pink and cream bitone blooms on this plant are very consistent and have good substance. Rain and heat and the time of day doesn’t put a dent in their perky little faces. The ruffles on the petals are lose and slightly crimped, more so than the understated ones on the sepals. The cream raised rib on the petals goes all the way from the green heart to the tips.

It is difficult to give an accurate count of the branching because of the proliferations (see the photos below). The fact that they bloom, results in a lot of flowers open at the same time, but they do not interfere with each other. This is a cultivar that you will want to cut the scapes off of when it’s done blooming, because they are NOT PRETTY when naked. ‘Galinda’s Petticoat’ is fertile both ways, so I hope to make more additions to the pink party in the future.

GINNY PEA’S PICK – Hunter 2025

“Who is Ginny Pea?”, you ask. She’s the same hybridizer who walked through my garden in 2019, passed hundreds of pretty faces, and and stopped at a seedling that was blooming for its first time. Five years later I registered that seedling as ‘Prairie’s Edge Megan Leigh’, not because its flag had Ginny’s initials on it, but because it did prove to be exceptional, as she had noted at its tender age. In 2022, I was moving THIS seedling from its original patch to the planting area for possible introductions. As I dug, I noticed faded initials from 2019 on the flag….GP!

The color of this bloom is not only difficult to describe, but it also varies, depending on the time of day, the lighting, and the temperature. In the morning or in shade, it is a vivid orchid with a lavender-blue washed band. The ruffled edge is a matching lavender-blue outlined in cream. The rib on the petals is often raised. Later in the day, or in the sun, the color is medium magenta. Occasionally, she will have a bad hair day, with some spotting if it’s very humid, but generally shows good substance through the evening. Consistent tree like branching displays the blooms nicely. GPP was impressive from its first bloom as a one-year old seedling, where it sat right next to its full sibling, ‘Man Enough to Wear Pink’, which I introduced in 2024. ‘Ginny Pea’s Pick’ is pod and pollen fertile, and didn’t miss a beat when lined out.

STRIKE ZONE – Hunter-A.R. 2025

The colors of this bloom are very striking, but that’s not where it got its name. This is another introduction by my granddaughter, Ava, who plays fast pitch softball in addition to tennis. Although she has played other positions, she is currently pitching, and I can imagine this flower as a target on the catcher’s glove.

‘Strike Zone’ is ruby red with a darker band on the petals. The green heart blends into a citron throat which spreads out onto the petals and sepals, almost to the tips. Both petals and sepals on this showy open form have a fine light edge. Well spaced branching keeps the large blooms from interfering with each other, and makes an impressive clump. Fertility is untested, but the pollen looks good.