Good Qualities
Year 1
The intense indigo blue color (5), slightly taller than other larkspur in my fields, nice vigorous plants; Tall, attractive, with usable branches after main stem was cut; Good as both a fresh cut and dried flower.
Year 2
Attractive blue flower (5); Went well with 'Rosy Red'; Flowers were nice; The color was unreal - bright, deep, delphinium blue - a color I've never found in a larkspur; Many useable branches even at 6 in. spacing; Healthy plants.
Problems
Year 1
None (2); Died in field; Although planted early in May, stems never attained any height, the plugs were not root bound so I don't know why this happened; Shorter than other larkspur, although we had a very dry spring.
Year 2
Too short (2); Germination wasn't good and didn't have many plants to work with, liked what I got, but just wasn't enough to make a good recommendation; Flower stems shorter than 'Stiletta Rosy Red'; Other larkspur varieties are much better; In the past I've had better luck with larkspur, we got it into the field early enough but then we had a month of no sun, rain and unusually cool weather, plants seemed stunted.
Similar Cultivar
Year 1
‘Cannes Deep Blue’; Also grew ‘Sublime’ larkspur mixture of which this cultivar has similar growth characteristics, but not the indigo blue color; Also grow ‘Blue Cloud’ larkspur that has a similar dark blue color, but is more open and airy in appearance.
Year 2
‘Stiletta Rosy Red'.
Comments
Year 1
Last year's (2007) larkspur cultivar was a much better performer; I would like to try this again under normal spring conditions, this larkspur did very well compared to other larkspur cultivars I grow, generally do not do well with larkspur but the past two years I have had good success including variety trial cultivars, I think this one will be a winner.
Year 2
No yield, plants dwarfed by plug tray, wet spring; Although my customers loved the 'Rosy Red', I think the blue was their favorite, but we sold all of both, so they are both worth having; I tried a new compost mix which was too heavy with manure and destroyed all of the seedlings of these plants, I won't make that mistake again!; My wholesaler and florists went crazy over the color. It was a huge hit!; Cut the whole plant; Cornell trial yield: pinching early yielded 6 stems/plant, 22 in. long, delayed 3 days in harvest compared to the unpinched plants, tunnel-grown: 31 inch main stem, 20-inch branches.
Trial Data
Year 1
| 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 | 2.9 | 18.0 | - | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 123 | 7.8 |
| Range of Responses | 1-12 | 12-24 | - | 4-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 36-216 | 7-10 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Trial Data
Year 2
| 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 | 2.4 | 18.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 73 | 8.4 |
| Range of Responses | 1-6 | 8-25.5 | 3-5 | 4-5 | 3-4 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 18-144 | 5-10 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Fred C. Gloeckner Company 600 Mamaroneck Ave. Harrison, NY 10528-1613
