I think it is kinda' cool. Lol.
CMK

It's also a travesty that I typed breeded instead of bred LOL!

I saw it IRL - it is U-G-L-Y!

I saw it in real life too- we had it at the nursery last year ;-)
CMK

It kinda looks like it has a disease... But still not nearly as ugly as many things IMHO.

Looks like it was a side-effect from Monsanto's genetic engineering project.

It looks like it has aster yellows or something...

I guess each to their own. Last year I saw at a local nursery, and like christinmk thought it was cool and bought it. However, it barely came back this year so the jury is still out. The 'bomb' part for me may the lack of performance!

I can beat it very easily. Just imagine one foot tall delphiniums with normal sized flowers. Nobody bought it.

Rather looks like a celosia or compact amaranthus, just in blue ... I find it unique and attractive and would purchase it with little hesitation!

Terrance

This post was edited by twrosz on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 15:07

I'm not crazy about it, but probably wouldn't vote it the ugliest plant ever.

That vote might go to Echinacea 'Doppleganger', which I have always thought looked like a mutant. Like a human with an ear growing out of their forehead. Haha

I guess you don't have staghorn mushrooms randomly popping up, like yellow vomit in a flower bed....

Well....I think someone decided to make money off a problem that affected my veronicas "sunny border blue." The flowers were distorted, the green tips curled, The growth was weak. They were one ugly batch of flowers.
Eventually they died, and the only one that lived (and is still living at least 6 years later) is normal.
Honest, they looked just like the one pictured and they were not well plants.

terrene - I agree. "doppelganger" always looked like a, well, mistake to me. I'm actually just warming up to double echinaceas (slowly).

I did not care for "The Bomb" either. I was given a plant in full bloom last fall which went to a plant swap this spring with the original tag with the photo to let others know how it looked. Someone took it home.

Since this thread started, I've been looking at my "bomb" and I like it every time! What I don't particularly care for are my pow pow echs.

It has the two "magic" phrases I look for in a perennial; hardy zones 4-8 and deer resistant! In my book, it makes it a keeper. I wouldn't exactly say its pretty, but its unique - a conversation plant.

Please don't waste your money. Unfortunately I bought it also. Every time I looked at it last year I had a feeling it was a genetic mistake and it would be best to throw it away. I didn't get rid of it. It did come back but is still only about two inches tall. While I'm thinking about it I'll go out and do it now.

Please don't waste your money. Unfortunately I bought it also. Every time I looked at it last year I had a feeling it was a genetic mistake and it would be best to throw it away. I didn't get rid of it. It did come back but is still only about two inches tall. While I'm thinking about it I'll go out and do it now.

I don't think it's particularly ugly, though maybe not what I'm looking for in a veronica.

I think introductions like this may well be the results of an unexpected breeding disaster, where the hybridizer's initial reaction is "ugh, better throw that on the compost pile", followed by "hmm, maybe if the p.r. guys write copy about it being a "new and exciting variation" I can sell it for big bucks".

I suspect that's what happened with the platycodon whose buds never open, and the Echinacea lacking petals but having a big black center.

Veronica cultivars have not been long-lived in my garden, so I wouldn't be surprised if 'Blue Bomb' bombed.

Years ago I bought Sunny Border Blue, which was named Perennial plant of the Year in 1990-something, and it was pretty the first year. But it grew weaker each year, instead of expanding, to the point where I shovel-pruned it.

There is one Veronica 'Icicle' left in the front garden that has lasted a few years, I like the delicate white spires of this plant.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think this plant is absolutely lovely. Unfortunately my attempts at growing veronica have been dismal failures.

I would vote for any type of hydrangea or hosta for the ugliest plant ever, although I know these are popular with a large majority of gardeners.