I believe I have finally figured out what this flower is. More accurately, the kind people on a gardening forum told my the type of flower it is, and I'm pretty sure I narrowed it down to the exact flower.
For starters, it's a dahlia. More specifically, it is a collerete dahlia. I'm pretty sure it is a Libretto Collerette Dahlia (scroll down a bit).
Mystery solved.
No wonder you liked the flower so much--Dahlia's are so elegant! Your Grandmother H loved them. How large are your blooms? (The dinnerplate Dahlia's have huge blooms, but most Dahlia's aren't that large, of course.) Congratulations on solving the mystery.
Posted by: Cop Car | October 24, 2005 at 11:17 AM
This is a fairly small flower - about 2 - 2 1/2" in diameter - but the plant itself is very small and has hardly any foliage.
Posted by: bogie | October 25, 2005 at 04:12 AM
Beauty comes in all sizes, doesn't it? I note that the Libretto was introduced by a breeder in Holland in a good year--the year that they let me out of high school!
Posted by: Cop Car | October 25, 2005 at 10:55 AM