A Saad twist (of orange, not lime)

Saad-Assaf  has propelled itself into the limelight the past several seasons. The Israeli company that is both grower and breeder, has introduced some of the most compelling new varieties in the likes of ‘Sophisticate’ and ‘Ruby Star’ among others. Of late, however, they are exhibiting some of the same issues in releasing mislabeled bulbs as the other large-scale producers. Case in point, this fellow, purchased as ‘Lime Flare‘, a narrow petaled pale green with red brush-marks. Eh, hem…is that what we see here? Nope. Clearly this is one of the company’s own hybrids, the grainy pattern in the center of the flower shows its genetic relationship to ‘Opal Star’. The flowers themselves have so far seemed of uneven formation, perhaps the reason it does not show up on the Saad-Assaf website with so much as a temporary numeric designation. Emaryllis would venture to say that here we have what represents a selection that never made the grade, a rare thing to witness. The usual substitution is by a named form from elsewhere in a company’s repertoire. For now, dubbed “Orange Flare”, which at a glance around the internet appears to have been procured under the guise of ‘Cutting Edge’ as well.