Trial: Annual

Year Trialed: 2007

Good Qualities

Beautiful pink and yellow color (12), kind of like scrambled eggs; Good stem length (3); Very drought tolerant, not susceptible to insect damage by flea beetles; Good height for time of year (October), long taper and spike; Prolific; Strong stems, close spacing on florets; Best rebloomer I have ever grown; The color is interesting up close, having both yellow and pink on the flowers, from a distance, though, they look kind of muddy; Very hardy; Very strong stems, good dense spikes, combined well with many other shades; Very productive, sturdy, less subject to heat inhibition of buds than some other cultivars; Sturdy stems, color is ok – range is very popular for us – so if we ?? but florists would use this; Good as a filler flower; Very nice color combination, unlike these we have previously grown; Both were great colors, we did not net (and yes I know that everyone else does) but they grew real well, and even though we had some plants knocked over, their stems were still plenty long; Tall, upright stems, fantastic and we love it; Good production, — I was a little questionable about the color when it first came out, but then it worked well with many combinations of flowers and colors, I really liked it, and it is still blooming.

Problems

Too short (3); None (2); Susceptible to wind and hail damage; A bit gappy; A bit loud for a New England spring, better as a fall snap; Didn’t particularly like the color, stems in the field were thin and weak, easily fell over, didn’t harvest all the stems that were harvestable because didn’t like the color; I had two snapdragon cultivars in the variety trial this year and grew them along side and among my usual Rocket Mix, although I had the same cultural (insect) problems with the Rockets they did produce usable stems while this one did not, however, the few florets on those stems that flowered had a nice attractive color, the problem was not the cultivar, but rather an serious infestation of a class of ‘stink bugs’ that caused the plant to develop abnormal growth restricting flowering, my insect control program (which is minimal) did not control the insects creating a crop failure; It needs support net or it will fall over; Some customers didn’t like the color for spring; thought it was better suited to autumn; A group 2 snap not particularly useful for main-season in the field; started out strong but succumbed to the heat of July and August – made a weak comeback in Sept.-Oct., might be better for winter-spring greenhouse production; Showed lots of rust late in cropping cycle, but produced numerous stems before succumbing to disease.

Similar Cultivars

No; Similar in color to OPUS Bronze.

Comments

At this time of year, ‘Cognac’, ‘Yellow’ and ‘Pink Improved’ are best quality Animations and well matched for crop time; It’s an ok flower for short bouquet work; I think this was the standout of all the trials, and gets my vote for #1; Although I did not produce usable stems of this cultivar, I do see potential as a nice color addition to summer field snaps; Responds well to topping at this wide spacing, also grew well in a fall-planted trial in the high tunnel; The Animation series, in general, does not get tall enough for our uses – not nearly as productive as Potomacs, Spring Giant, and Rocket – which are what we do well with; Color not as vibrant as ‘Opus Bronze’ – doesn’t stand out as anything special; Despite the rust, these were very attractive stems and much appreciated by our customers; we grew in the field and it needed support; I cannot say enough good things about this snap, it is still providing me with quality cuts.

Postharvest

Floralife solution, keep upright; Everything clean!; We don’t a leave, and stems needed to be very upright in buckets to preventing bending; Floralife crystals and then in the cooler, did drop bottom flowers when it was really hot and coming out of the cooler.

Trial Data

¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.

Supplier

Benary Seed
1444 Larson St.
Sycamore, IL 60178