Fuzzy Thinking (Mussar, 2013)

FuzzyThinking

The name Fuzzy Thinking speaks to both the parentage and my rationale for introducing this cultivar. The seed for this cross was originally purchased from Fran Harding a number of years ago. The parentage is (Forestlake Point Lace x (Forestlake Warm and Fuzzy x sib)). Forestlake Warm and Fuzzy (Harding-F, 2000) is a short plant with an outrageous edge that has not been commercially available to date. So my thinking may be a bit fuzzy but I'm introducing this as a hybridizer's plant to make some of these unique genetics available.

The 5" flowers are pale peach with a faint eyezone. In cooler weather the flower will be nearly yellow but with heat and sun the peach colour and eyezone become more prominent. However this flower is all about the edge! It has some of deepest pleated ruffles I've ever seen in my northern garden with a fine sawtooth edge. It is pod and pollen fertile and in my limited breeding with it, the edge is passed on to the kids.

FuzzyThinking-edge

This plant is not without its faults. The scape is only about 20" tall (which is taller than Forestlake Warm and Fuzzy) with only a top V and a bud count of about 10. The sepals mis-behave sometimes too! The few kids I've seen from it have been much taller even on first year bloom and have kept the edge. It makes a dense crown and can be difficult to divide. With all these faults I might be accused of fuzzy thinking (maybe it's the wine!) but I do think there is value to bringing in some new genetics for edges for hybridizers. Do you agree? Early-mid season bloomer, dormant foliage. Registered 2013. Tetraploid. $100 (double fan).