The Art of the Sale

Tsk, tsk. The same Florida company that sold ‘Nagano’ in place of ‘Solomon’ this season has done it again. Above we see the jaunty orange and white of the long familiar, unregistered variety that goes by the name ‘Lillystar’ in these parts. Now, I know full and well that the name ‘Naughty Lady’ has long been used to market any number of smaller flowered red (or orange) and white bi-colors. The “real” ‘Naughty Lady’ is apparently synonymous with the classic Ludwig hybrid ‘Voodoo’. So, it was no great surprise when the vigorous good-doer photographed here willingly put forth its bright orange and white blossoms. In a previous attempt to acquire ‘Naughty Lady’ from the same vendor I was rewarded with the surprising ‘Belicia’ which has probably only rarely crossed the Atlantic to our shores. No such rara avis this time out. Having not seen the cheerful ‘Lillystar’ in a while, I was non plussed. Then came this one.

What we see here is clearly not what Emaryllis ordered. I purchased the lovely and artistically shaded ‘Rembrandt van Rijn’, delighted to see it being offered this season. That no other company seemed to be selling it should have been a tip off. Then came a comment under the posting on “Solomon-gate” with a more concerning statement. It seems that these were received labeled as ‘Rosy Star’ (which is exactly what we have here) yet knowingly sold under the ‘Rembrandt van Rijn’ name. If this is the case, it is not appreciated in these quarters. While suppliers may have promised the business owner varieties that they could not really deliver, at the moment that they arrived with different name labeling some sort of notification (if not outright apology) should have been placed on the company website. Perhaps there is a Naughty Lady somewhere in our midst after all 😉