It has been a week, hasn't it? But you'll be pleased to know, Kay, that I've found a Rose to end all Roses for spring. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.
Now, your Pardancanda question. That's x Pardancanda, if you please -- it's an intergeneric cross of Belamcanda chinensis x Pardanthopsis dichotoma. The name is taken from part of each genus name: Pardan + canda. I have wondered if they knew they were going to call it "Candy Lily" when they came up with the new genus, because the "canda" bit does fit in nicely. (And if you've never heard of Pardanthopsis, it used to be called Iris dichotoma. It's one of the beardless Irises, and has the lovely common name of Vesper Iris -- presumably because the blooms opened at the hour for Vespers? If you ever want to explore Irises further, you must read two people: Molly Price, who will make you realize you know nothing about Irises whatsoever; and Louise Beebe Wilder, who grew only what she loved and didn't mind telling you what she thought of any given plant.)
Anyway, where was I? x Pardancanda was introduced by our own Doc Alston in the early '70's, but Doc will tell you that all the breeding was done by Sam Norris, who purchased the original plants from Park Seed. The species is named for him, but Mr. Norris never released any varieties onto the market, so Doc redid the crosses and came up with the mix that Park has been selling so successfully for 30 years or so. Doc claims he played around with selecting individual colors but was never satisfied with the results, which does sound just like him -- too modest by half! At any rate, there have been other selections, but I believe 'Sangria' is the first individual color. The flowers are larger and the season of interest even longer. Candy Lilies have those big, shiny, blackberry-like seedpods that people are keen to use in indoor arrangements, so after the blooms pass in late summer or early fall, the performance continues with a new look.
Have you seen the photo of 'Sangria' yet? Kay, you are going to fall hard for this one!
My phone will not stop ringing. More in a while. Please, please, Los Hermanos for lunch?