White flowers, VIII–IX; bright green foliage; height 31–45cm; spread 61–75cm.
This white-flowered circulated in Netherlands before 1970 under the name ‘Elegantissima’ which had also been applied to a pink-flowered clone (from Portugal, collected by Walter Ingwersen); re-named by Dutch nurserymen in 1970.
Name alluding to the former name (‘Elegantissima’) and the white flowers.
❁ Silver-rose flowers, VII–X; dark green foliage; spreading, open habit; height 35cm tall; spread 35cm. A sport on ‘Tib‘ found in 1980s by E. H. Becker (Borstel-Hohenroden, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) in 1984, and named after his wife.
Correct name ‘Elkstone White’
White flowers, VII–VIII; mid-green foliage; compact broad habit; height 10–15cm; spread 21–25cm.
Wild-collected; found at Elkstone on Morridge Moor near Leek, North Staffordshire, England; introduced by John Ravenscroft (Bridgemere Nurseries, Nantwich, Cheshire) about 1953. ‘The only plant in flower at the time it was spotted.’
Named after the place where it was found, Elkstone on Morridge Moor, Leek, Staffordshire.
Crimson flowers, VII–IX; bright green foliage; broad erect habit; height 26–30cm; spread 31–45cm.
Sport on ‘Darkness‘; raised and introduced by H. van der Lip (Hazerswoude, Netherlands) in 1991.
Named after the wife of the finder.
Mauve (H2) flowers, VIII–X; dark green foliage; spreading habit; height 21–25cm; spread 31–45cm.
Introduced in USA before 1979; Alice Knight (Heather Acres Inc., Elma, Washington, USA) obtained this from The Rock Garden (later named Daystar; Litchfield, Maine, USA) in 1979.
Mauve (H2) flowers, VIII–IX; green foliage with a greyish sheen; upright; height 31–45cm; spread 31–45cm.
Correct name ‘Mair’s Variety’
❁ White flowers, VIII–X; mid-green foliage; height 21–25cm; spread 31–45cm. Very similar to ‘Alba Plena‘, but the foliage is a little darker and the flower-spikes a little longer on unpruned plants.
Sport “on a pink-flowered plant”; found by Mrs Frye about 1940 in her garden at Seattle, Washington, USA; originally propagated by Frances Robertson, nurseryman to Professor Frye, and reputedly introduced into Britain by F. J. Chapple.
Named after Mrs Frye, the wife of the Professor of Botany at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA
❁Lavender (H3) flowers in very long spikes, VIII–X; grey-green foliage in summer, turning drab brown-green in winter; height 31–45cm; spread 61–75cm. An outstanding plant, apart from its dull foliage; named after the wife of Ralph Purnell.
