Trial: Annual
Year Trialed: 2009
Good Qualities
Rich purple color (5); In the past we had only grown the blue and pink, the white and lavender were surprisingly popular and were outstanding; Outstanding productivity early in high tunnel, attractive flower; Early color; Strong stems; Long vase live, pleasing flower shape; Flowers were nice; Gorgeous and very popular, excellent vase life, no insect problems; Vigorous, showy plants with good stem quality.Problems
Set back severely by spring weather conditions in field; Thrips magnet; Germination wasn't good and didn't have many plants to work with, did like what I got, but just wasn't enough to make a good recommendation; Heat stress; As apical flowers fade, they shrivel and brown without dropping, thus reducing quality of appearance, even though the subsequent flowers look beautiful.Similar Cultivars
All colors of series are alike, we compared ‘Blue Improved’ to ‘Blue’ and found no difference; Other campanulas; For this entire series, I do not really see huge improvements over the standards.Postharvest
I just used water; Cut early in the day, kept cool and also used Floralife, strip bottom foliage before putting into buckets, seems to help with absorption; No treatment.Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | Average Spacing (in2) | Average Postharvest Life (days) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||||
| Average | 3.6 | 17.4 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 83 | 10.7 |
| Range of Responses | 1-6 | 12-20 | 3-4 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 36-144 | 5-14 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Harvested July week 1 to 3 (planted in field 4/25, Zone 5); We will be adding the white and lavender to our regular plantings from now on, they are worth having in the mix, greenhouse grown, initial stem was large, 36 inches long, for the first one, plus 3 other smaller stems averaged about 15 inches; This may be better planted in the fall and row covered over winter; I should have used support netting; Market customers kept asking for more; We compared ‘Blue Improved’ to ‘Blue’ and found no difference; Cornell trial yield: 2 in field, 8 in tunnel: 13 inches in field, 21 inches in tunnel.