A while back I believe that Ward mentioned that Navaho Red and Cherry Chief were one in the same. I don't have Navaho Red but I do have Navaho Purple along with Cherry Chief. The Navaho Purple were grown from seed that I collected at a local nursery. The Cherry Chief are from seeds from My own Cherry Chief plants plus I have one cutting that I took last fall and overwintered. I compared all the leaves from both my two Navaho Purple greggiis and the overwintered Cherry Chief and the seedlings. The Navaho Purple leaves are like the other greggiis that I have growing (longer and more eliptical) where as the Cherry Chief leaves are larger and a bit more rounded and not as long.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Penny,

I had asked the same question earlier regarding the leaves of the cherry chief. They do not resemble those of other greggii's like Wild thing, Furman's red. They have a more microphylla quality like the Maraschino. I initially thought I had a plant that was incorrectly labelled from a local nursery. Turns out that I have the correct plant after all. I have a navajo rose and it looks almost identical to the Wild thing leaf wise. Also, Navajo bright red is supposed to be the same as cherry chief. Hope that helps.

Suchie

Thanks Suchie for your reply. I had Cherry Chief last year and remembered the leaves being larger than most greggiis that is why when I compared my seedlings and the one cutting I had from last year's plants I just couldn't see the correlation between my Navaho Purple and the Cherry Chief. I would assume that if Navaho Red is the same as Cherry Chief then Navaho Purple would be similar in appearance except for the color of the flower.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Navajo Bright Red and Cherry Chief are the same hybrid - or so I am told.

I would think that Navaho Purple would have similar leaf characteristics and that only the flower color would be different but not so. Thge leaves of the purple are not the same at all.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

The two plants are only related by name Navajo. One parent of Navajo Purple is lycoides (sp?) and the other appears to be greggii. Bright Red seems to have greggii and microphylla in it.

Thanks Ward. One would think that plants within the same series would have similar parentage but I guess that isn't always the case.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39