Trial: Annual

Years Trialed: 1998

Good Qualities

Good color (5); Large flowers (3); Good stem length (3); Very productive (2); Strong stems, no staking required (2); Showy (2); Very nice, floriferous; Nice splash of color in bouquets; Quilled flowers; Bright orange, multi-petalled flower with black centers; Excellent germination.

Problems

Stem brittle, snap very easily; Had aphid problems with this, finally pulled them out because couldn't keep them off the plants; Need preservatives added to water; Poor germination; Hard to keep up with the production, had to dead head often to keep plants producing, sounds contradictory, but couldn't use all the flowers the plant produced so lots went unharvested; Does not last as cut flowers; Orange!

Comments

Always seem to have lots of problems with Calendula's, so I'm not real crazy about them; I personally don't like the sticky stems – can we breed those out?; Orange does not sell early summer in N.H. Calendula are in poor demand; Thought it would have a black center because of its name, but just the usual run-of-the-mill calendula emerged!; Grew like crazy until they got tired at the end of August.; Tolerates light frost 1-2 C; Need special market to sell these - not a great color generally.

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