Veryzer My first blooms of Hollyhill Black Widow last year were so purple & stripey, that I thought it was a mislabel at first. A bunch of other growers assured me that theirs tend to do the same thing in dry heat weather, and many were seeing the same last year. Mine also might just have sported, since Ted said it has a tendency to do that. I’ve ordered one from another source for this year, to compare. I’d enjoy having both the purple & the original color versions.
I loved both my HH Black Beauty & HH Black Widow, though my HH Black Beauty’s blooms were larger for me (and significantly less purple & not stripey). I feel like my HH Black Beauty blooms had petals that were a bit wider, going to a twisty narrow pointed end, in contrast to the blooms on my HH Black Widow which the petals were on the skinny side throughout, without much of a taper, more of a rounded end. I didn’t notice pronounced cupping on my HH Black Widow blooms, like some waterlilies do, even when cut and brought inside to low light. Still was a favorite. The color was stunning, even though it was unexpected.
Here are some pictures of my purple HH Black Widow last year. The last picture is next to Irish Ruffles. 
