At 03:51 PM 9/22/2004 -0700, you wrote: >Dear All: > >I just wonder why no one has mentioned Dahlias? Cheers, John E. Bryan John, I was going to mention Dahlias, but only to say that I have never seen one which I would call purple. There seem to be plenty of purple ones in the catalogs, but not in gardens hereabouts. Weather may have something to do with this. The local Dahlia show takes place this weekend: I check out the big variety there to see if anyone has a purple Dahlia. Jane, help me calibrate my color sense: what color do you see in Clematis x jackmani? And can you give examples of familiar flowers which are purple? I've never seen a purple Allium, although I've seen lots I would call magenta (and to my eyes, this is where the "purple" Dahlia fall). And what in the world is "mineral violet" - is it a term from the color charts? One list uses it, and I can't believe that more than a very few people have any idea what it means. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I may have to smash a few Murex (or Purpura if I can find them) this weekend if Jane doesn't straighten me out.