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.

Supplier

Benary Seed 1444 Larson St. Sycamore, IL 60178