Sorry Mike, but I have a few problems with your last post. For one thing, suggestions of problems from unnamed sources really mean nothing as they could well be private growers with little or no expertise like many found on ebay, say. And an unnamed "expert" is really not much of a help either. Did you ever discuss your problems with said sources and said expert?
And as wonderful a source as Perry's first book is, unless you have the RHS color tabs for reference, it isn't a whole lot of help sorting out nuances. He wanted them used in the second book as well and I was glad when the publisher nixed the idea because they are very difficult to even use. Terribly difficult actually, it is just such a huge set. To be more current, you may want to look into the WGI registry, it has many of the new releases in the nearly five years that have passed since the second book was done.
But it is the bit about WBG/Lone Star that I really have to question. I took a look to see who certifies Wood's Blue Goddess and there are only four members that do so. I'm one and I don't have Lone Star, Rich Sacher is another and to my knowledge, he doesn't have the lily, but more importantly, he is strictly retail and doesn't ship, I know for a fact that John Loggins at Lone Star Aquatics does not have the lily 'Lone Star' and that leaves Tammie of Aloha Aquatics and she has never mentioned to me that she has it either. So I have to wonder what certifying member you could have possibly purchased a WBG from that would even be in a position to make that particular mistake? Timgod, would know better, but I don't believe many of Ken Landon's newer hybrids are even available on the market. So as you can tell, I don't believe in the least that you possibly have 'Lone Star' and it definitely did not orignate from a certified Truly Named participant as you claim. What is worse, because of what I think is your mistaken ID, a false 'Lone Star' is now out there and if you have shared it at, it is like a virus that spreads and nearly impossible to undo.
You mention two slight differences and while I haven't ever seen 'Lone Star', It is described as a "satiny purple" and as the name implies, 'Wood's Blue Goddess' is blue...or a deep sky blue as Perry puts it. And a difference in color doesn't strike me as a "subtle" difference.
You are correct that no one is perfect and even a certified dealer can make a mistake, but do you know how the Truly Named program works? A grower cannot just write Kit and say "Hey, I want to certify such and such a lily". Diagnostic pictures and provenance must be provided to verify the lily and if there is the slightest doubt, it is then reviewed by experts. For instance, any question on Winch lilies ( or my lilies) would go to me and Winch's daughter Noelene. John Loggins ( Dr. Strawn's farm manager) and James Knock ( has the largest complete collection of Strawn stock from Dr. Strawn) would decide on Strawn cultivars. So it is not general experts deciding, but those most familiar with the lily in question.
And when a mistake is made, or you feel there is one, the customer can ask the grower for a correction or take it to a review by the Truly Named experts? Did you ever attempt to address you problem?
I have to suggest that what you see as mistakes might in fact be subtle differences displayed by the same cultivar in different climates, seasons and growing media and not always different lilies. But when I look at your last picture, I don't see purple or the lily pictured in Perry's book as 'Lone Star'.
