I'm sorry but this is the ugliest Rudbeckia known to man. LOL. Jon was right about this one! I have written to Thompson & Morgan asking for a refund for some seeds of this ugly thing. They are usually pretty responsive when you have a complaint. Here is a comparison of my bloom and the photo from Thompson & Morgan's website. I'll let the photo speak for itself...
This message was edited Jun 30, 2009 9:35 AM
I seeded some of them too. They are still small.. not doing much. I saw a flowered version at a nursery recently.. and they look as lovely as yours!!! Blah.
OK, I have the same thing as you do. I thought I was losing my edge here...I mean in a very crowded border...I got my seed from Harris Seed. A complete lie to say the least! Glad it's not just me, though, lol!
Can you believe the trickery they used to sell these? Look at the red in that photo on the right. I'm trying to get my money back for all the seeds I bought. I've never been deceived like this about bloom color before. I've seen times where the color wasn't exact, but not this different. I also bought seeds from Harris Seeds. LOL. They really got me good!
I was part of that Harris seed split...so if whoever...was that you? gets $$ back, I'm in line, too. Not holding my breath about a few bucks, mind you...But don't you think that sometimes these folks need to be taught a lesson? Humbug!
I wish I had swapped these! LOL. I'd like to get rid of all of these I have in the flower garden. They are horrendous! I'm on the phone with Harris Seeds right now. I actually liked these so much that I bought two packs of seeds...one from Harris and one from Thompson & Morgan. They all look UGLY.
I'm getting a refund from Harris Seeds. I don't know about Thompson & Morgan yet. She wanted to know if I wanted more seeds. I said NO to that. LOL.
Funny! More seeds of something else? or of the same thing? It's very telling that different seed sources gave the same results. So, it's great that you had both and could compare. And to think how we wintersowed, babied, and hovered over these beasts...I think they should reimburse us for that, too;)
She asked if I wanted more seeds of "Cherry Brandy." I told her, "No, Cherry Brandy is the laughing stock of Dave's Garden." LOL.
Obviously she hasn't personally tried them, lol! Curious as to her reply at your statement...As much as we promote certain companies here, you'd think that they might worry a bit about that.
She just said she would turn it over to someone else for a refund. I hope everyone will contact these people and get a refund. They were deceptive with their photos and should be held accountable. If they don't give me my refund, I won't be ordering from them again.
I'm gonna have to look back and see who it was that submitted the original order. I got a fourth of the total of seeds. That picture of the CB..is that the same one T&M uses? Actually any seed co. that sells it and uses that photo or one like it should be taken to task for that. Otherwise the fraud continues.
That photo is used all over. I've seen it at Harris Seeds and Thompson & Morgan. It was even on the cover of Thompson & Morgan's catalog. It really is why I wanted these seeds. I think this is what we were expecting. I didn't expect the brightest red in the world, but surely more red than brown wouldn't be too much to ask of a plant called "Cherry Brandy."
That's pretty much my thoughts on the matter, too. By far, my biggest disappointment of the gardening season so far.
Even Bluestone Perennials is using the deceptive photo to sell these. I'm surprised they wouldn't post a more accurate photo.
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/RUCBS.html
Thompson & Morgan refunded my money too but said they haven't received one complaint about Cherry Brandy except for my own.
These people need feedback from us. Otherwise, they think they've got the best plant every created. LOL.
Good to hear you're, at least, getting some of your money back. My "Cherry Brandy's" are just weird. I have four of them and two are dark burgundy and two are two toned. The two toned are much smaller sized flowers on taller plants. The burgundy blooms are a bit larger in size and I actually like the blooms. I must admit neither of them have colors anything close to "the official" photo being used by just about every online retailer.
Jon
I was part of the Harris split plus bought more from T&M too.... mine have hardly grown since I planted them out.
Sorry to hear that nanny 56. They have been very difficult for me also to grow. I looked at them tonight for the first time in a few days and they're starting to look more promising. I'll take a few pictures tomorrow and post them.
Jon
Mine seem to be growing well, and blooming nicely, but they are not the cherry red that we saw in all the pictures. I was definitely expecting a brighter color.
Here are a couple of photos of two of my Rudbeckia "Cherry Brandy" plants from this morning.
Jon
And here is the other one. These are the two of the four I haven't planted in the ground yet.
Jon
One of the blooms looks sort of similar to the advertised pics..hummm.
I have noticed the coloration on the first plant pictured is much closer to the "official" photo of this plant. It still isn't the red color reflected in the photo, but it does get closer to that color as the blooms mature a few days. The other colored blooms are completely different. I think inconsistency would be the appropriate wording.
Jon
To say the least, lol! None of mine have anything near to the pics...They are all that ruddy brown on brown color. Nothing to write home about if it's red you're looking for.
John,
I like the first one ok, but the second one is nothing like what these are supposed to be. I think they need go back to the drawing board until they make the seed produce true to the pictures.
Agreed. It's like they are two separate Rudbeckias. The two with the distinct two colored blooms are much taller plants compared to the two with the more red coloration. I think it should be renamed as "Cherry Brandy Surprise". Hehe
I had to really play around with the lighting outside to get the first photo to come out with more of a red tone to it.
Jon - I noticed something too. When it's dark outside I sometimes look at my plants with a flashlight. I work till almost dark and sometimes don't get home in time to see them in sunlight. With a flashlight my brown ones look red. LOL. Seriously. When it's daylight they look brown.
Maybe they took the marketing photos at night!
The lighting can make a huge difference in how the photos come out. Most of the time I take photos during the morning or early in the evening when the sun is lower. Today is a fairly overcast day so the lighting is good. There seems to be too much glare during the middle of the day. Instead of taking the photos horizontally I generally go somewhere in between horizontally and vertically above. You'll see the colors deepen as you adjust your camera more and more above a "straight on" horizontal position.
I would like to add that these look brown in normal daylight even to the naked eye. I meant that with a flashlight at night the color looks better, but I don't think they meant them to be brown during normal daylight. LOL.
New market strategy, lol!!
Yep, they seem closer to brown compared to red. Kind of like Rudbeckia "Chocolate Covered Cherry Brandy". Maybe the red is on the inside. LOL
The color looks like those Chocolate Cherry tomatoes. But in that case the cherry only refers to the size of the tomatoes not the color!
Come to think of it...the blooms on these are very small. Maybe the Cherry means the size of the flowers. ;)
LOL. That could be it. My Cherry Brandy that looks like yours has small sized blooms also. The other one that is darker has blooms 1-3 inches larger.
I'm renaming this one Rudbeckia "Pooper Scooper™" I will save it for tissue culturing and market it under that name. It's a selection of Rudbeckia "Cherry Brandy." LOL.
Update: Thompson & Morgan says their picture of this plant was taken in their trial gardens. Apparently they did have some red ones. They can't explain why so many of us are getting brown flowers.
This message was edited Jul 1, 2009 12:58 PM
I can see it's possible to get some close in color to their picture if the lighting is just right. It doesn't explain the other colored ones though. I think some of the first seeds to be offered were not quite right for some reason. Something may have been genetically wrong with them.
Man oh man. heard abotu the Cherry Brandies and had to come see. Got in the split of them too and then got my backordere d package s from T&M. Think I have like 3 or 4 packages of them, plus the split .
Wonder if feedign them a little bit of red food coloring would redden them up and make them look pretty.
Can't remmebr fi thes e were annuals or perennials, but wonder if they wil look better later on, ya knwo how like Daylilie s can have a dog fo a flower the first oen out but other blooms are pretty? crossign fingers.
LOL. The food color thing passed through my mind also. I've wondered if they are annuals, biennials or perennials also. Many of the "specialty" rudbeckias are annuals but, if your lucky, some may reappear the next year. Only time will tell on this new one. I have seen some improvement in the bloom color in the first month or so, but nothing really dramatic yet.
Jon
I'm actually hoping they are annuals. I will definitely be deadheading these! Life is too short to grow something this ugly more than one season.
Y'all are killin' me here:))) Pooper Scooper it is! I'm changing the tag on this one!!
