Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2000Good Qualities
Color (3); Good germination; Good stem length (8 x 8 in spacing); Tall; Beautiful antique color as opposed to Park’s Armeria, which is very neon; Good strong stems; Flowers quickly from seed, no pests, nice color, germination was very good; OK color, but not exceptional; Flowers were small but gave good dimension to bouquets; Tolerant of poor conditions; Good flower shape, size; Strong stems, long lasting flowers.Problems
I’m not sure Armeria can reach its full size in the Vermont climate; Other tufts remain fairly small (8; diameter) here and production is low, will leave plants in to mature; Flowers senesce on top of umbel, looks like a bald guys head, non uniform for flowering; Flower unmarketable, only 30% survival of plants; Inconsistent yield, more for roadside market rather than a professional cut, unreliable to flower, better as a garden perennial; Size of flower, plants grew well, just wasn’t impressed with them, planted some in my own flower beds, but they seemed lost among other plants, not enough color or sizeable flowers to show up; Flowers brown fast; Didn’t germinate; Took 7 months to bloom, very small globe flower heads, size of a jawbreaker; grows very slow, hard to establish.Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||
| Average | 9.3 | 15.4 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Similar to other Armerias; For some reason florist do not like - mostly I think because one needs so many to make them look buyable, I put 20-25 per bunch and the bunches still looked skimpy, Also, they do not hold up well in 42°F cooler, their heads droop; Very good show late in August; May be better second year; We planted this in our display beds, and it was beautiful.