MYSTIQUE

I was excited about this bloom, but it's not on my "must grow" list after evaluating the performance for a season. The color and size are excellent, but I want my blooms to last more than two days after cutting. The petals would wilt by day 2 no matter if I cut the blooms early or wait for the flowers to mature. Mystique would be better in a garden application than for bouquet production.

This is just now starting to bloom for me (late August/early September in Zone 7) and the flowers are lovely, a little darker and richer than pictured. The stems are deep purple with darker foliage, making it a really striking looking plant even before the flowers appear. Stems are fairly long and good for cutting. One thing to note is that the flower heads start out quite droopy, so you have to wait until they get going and "look up" before cutting them. For me they last a couple of days at most in a cut arrangement before going over. So not the longest lasting cut flower, but striking color and foliage are still winners for me.