Got a better picture - took it at 7pm, and the color came out more true to life in this pic.

Oh My!!

That's GORGEOUS!

So pretty!!

ArenâÂÂt they WONDERFUL, Misty? Since theyâÂÂre so âÂÂtropicalâ looking, many people are surprised to find out theyâÂÂre hardy when they first see them. ThatâÂÂs a great color you have! I love red! I think the flowers on that variety are usually bigger than you got this year, and IâÂÂm thinking that maybe when itâÂÂs more established next year or the year after, you might get flowers up to 8 or 9". There are varieties that truly get up to âÂÂdinner plate size,â up to 10 or 12" sometimes. WouldnâÂÂt it be nice if the individual flowers lasted longer?!!

If youâÂÂd be interested in another variety, IâÂÂll have seeds for âÂÂDisco Belle Pinkâ available again when Bonnie does her seed exchange over winter! IâÂÂm not sure of this, but from what IâÂÂve seen, I think âÂÂDisco Belleâ grows into more of a âÂÂbushâ shape than some of the other varieties. IâÂÂve posted pics of this one before, but here it is again!

The flowers are about 7-8".

And this is the shape of the plant after (I think) about 4 or 5 years.

With yours, cut the stems all the way down after itâÂÂs completely dormant in late fall or early winter, and next spring, REMEMBER, they come up VERY late! One year mine didnâÂÂt get going until the beginning of June! But when they start growing, BOY, to they ever GROW! If you leave the seedpods dry on yours, you should also be able to easily collect seed. When they dry all the way, the seeds fall out very easily. (And the pods are good dried arrangement material!) IâÂÂm not sure if all the varieties come true from seed, but even if they didnâÂÂt, you could wind up with a very interesting color. âÂÂDisco Belleâ does come true from seed.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures!

Skybird

P.S. When you cut them down I recommend you DONâÂÂT put the stems on the compost pile! They take YEARS to decompose! At least on my pile they do!

Oh, how lovely!! I would love to have some seeds of your variety, for sure :^) - thanks Skybird! What a fun color and shape. I almost picked off one of the old blooms on mine, but decided to leave it and see if it developed seeds. Glad I did, as it sounds like it will.

And thank you for the tips on pruning it back this fall - I've been wondering of what might be best. I can see from how it came back this year that it did not grow at all from the old stalks (I left them about 6" high, as I didn't know what to expect). I think it was around June before mine showed any signs of growth as well. Hopefully in the next few years, it will develop more stalks - it only has about 5 right now, and probably about 3 ft. high. So it's a little sparse looking as a whole, but the stalks are loaded with leaves and buds. Yes, I too wish each of the flowers lasted a little longer - oh well, they are pretty while they're there!!