plant named ‘Dragon's Lair’

Botanical denomination:hybrid.

Variety denomination: ‘Dragon's Lair’.

The earliest offer for sale anywhere in the world of‘Dragon's Lair’ was a private offer to Centerton Nursery by Walters Gardens, Inc. on Oct. 15, 2024. Walters Gardens, Inc. obtained the new plant and information about the new plant directly from the inventor. No plants of‘Dragon's Lair’ have been sold, in this country or anywhere in the world, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made, more than one year prior the filing date of this application, and such sale or disclosure within one year was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor and as such would be a 35 U.S.C § 102(b) exception.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar ofin the Saxifragaceae family and given the cultivar name of ‘Dragon's Lair’. ‘Dragon's Lair’ was hybridized by the inventor on Jul. 2, 2018, at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Michigan, USA as a cross between‘Dark Side of the Moon’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 35,461 as the female parent and ‘Delft Lace’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,839 as the male parent. The single seedling resulting in the name variety was assigned the breeder code 18-28-1 through the trial process.

‘Dragon's Lair’ was first selected in the fall of 2019 and passed final evaluation in the fall of 2021 from among several other seedlings from the same cross and other crosses. ‘Dragon's Lair’ has been asexually propagated by initially in 2021 by division of the crown at the same nursery in Zeeland, MI followed by sterile shoot tip tissue culture propagation, and the resultant plants of both propagation systems have remained stable and continued to exhibit the same characteristics as the original plant for multiple generations.

Plants of the newhave not been observed under all possible combinations of environmental conditions and cultural practices. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype. The following traits in combination have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of ‘Dragon's Lair’ and distinguish the new cultivar as a new and distinctplant:

The nearest comparisonplants known to the inventor besides the parents include: ‘Amber Moon’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 26,028, ‘Chocolate Cherry’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,676, ‘Chocolate Shogun’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 26.430,‘Maggie Daley’ (not patented), and‘Visions’ (not patented).

‘Amber Moon’ has foliage that is chartreuse tinged reddish in the spring, and the flowers are rosy-pink. ‘Chocolate Cherry’ has dark green foliage with burgundy overtones and the panicles are more reddish colored and more horizontally branched. ‘Chocolate Shogun’, has dark purplish-brown foliage and the flowers are pale pinkish-white on more horizontally branched panicles. ‘Maggie Daley’ has dark green foliage and bright lavender-purple flowers. ‘Visions’ has medium green foliage with raspberry-pink flowers.

‘Dark Side of the Moon’ has fewer inflorescences per plant that are taller, longer and broader, and the branchlets are more horizontal, the foliage is a darker greyed-purple with less reddish coloring, and the new plant has a faster growth rate. ‘Delft Lace’ flowers later in the season, the inflorescence is more airy, and the foliage is more dark-green and less greyed-purple.

The following description is based on three-year-old plants growing in a full-sun outdoor display garden in Zeeland, Michigan, USA. The new plant has not been grown under all possible environments and may phenotypically appear different under different conditions such as light, temperatures, fertilizer, and water, without any difference in genotype. The color descriptions used are from the 2015 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except where common dictionary terms are used.