Congratulations on both your Coral Reef bloom and those gorgeous Lupines around her! There've been questions about Patty's Plum coming true from seed for a number of years including here on GW forums. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/calif/msg1213342330577.html In searching the net for Patty's Plum SEEDS they seem to have "disappeared" from vendor sites where they used to be available just a couple of years ago. From everything I've found they do NOT come true. All sales offered that's I've found are either for plants or what are being referred to in UK as "bulbs" which I'm taking to mean bareroot plants. The link to Missouri Botanical Gardens states they do NOT come true from self-seeding and will likely show reversion to natural orange coloration. Don't know if color reversion from selfseeding was known to propagators or vendors in years past but seeds have disappeared from their online sites now offering only plants. They can be propogated by root cuttings. Gardeners would have to be vigilant to deadhead Patty's Purple if they don't want color reversion to orange disrupting possible lovely color schemes they've created. Annual Papaver somniform 'Lauren's Grape' has been suggested as a substitute if retaining purple bloom is desired for garden setting. Here is a link that might be useful: MOBOT-Patty's Plum papver orientale

That is totally acceptable, to note a synonym of a species on the name tag. Mostly listing of synonyms is done when referring to a species in a piece of botanical literature, a paper or article. In horticulture I would say it is more important to know the current name and then be familiar with the most commonly used synonyms. Many names that are now synonyms are very old and not in use anymore anyways. Take a look at the link I provided. This is an orchid page but it's just easier to use because all the really thorough Hoya sites are in other languages. Notice how the synonyms are listed, written in the proper way with the names of the person/people who originally published the plant under that name and the year of publication. Ideally the name of the publication the species was published in should also appear so that anyone interested can reference the original publication. This is all very important to understanding where the names came from and how we have arrived at the currently accepted name. Many times plants are described by more than one person/people under multiple names and this can be spread apart by years, decades, or longer. Many plants are initially lumped into Genera that they actually do not belong in and through the years as more research is done species get moved around and corrections made. The tuff part is that like you mentioned above there are often multiple names that are associated with one plant. Hoya stoneana and Hoya longifolia are two separate and unique species but there has been confusion between them. Their names are not synonymous and their association is a different kind of mistake altogether. The Hoya tsangii and Hoya odetteae reference is however a good example of a synonym (odetteae) and the currently accepted species name. On the topic of the name Hoya motoskei. I think too many people get caught up on leaf colour. Leaf colour has nothing to do with species identification and a dark leafed Hoya carnosa is simply that and not another species. Environmental factors are obviously strong factors but so are genetics. Plants grown from seed are individuals and just like I have brown hair and my sister has red hair, we can show a range of characteristics and still be the same species. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Bulbophyllum auratum - Synonyms

If you want to do a soil test at home, there are kits available. It's not as accurate as those run in a lab, but results are usually in the ballpark. If you don't see kits in any of your local garden centers, then order one online. It certainly is a mysterious problem, and I hope you will follow up with how your next planting fares ... and the cause, if it ever is discovered.

I'm all about repeating roses for effect, and you have done that very nicely!! Combining the roses along with evergreens and the purple blooming at the same time is practically PERFECT in my book!!! Great job and very inviting!! Rebecca