Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2002Good Qualities
Gorgeous purple flower (4); Stiff stems, nice full florets, overlapping petals; Being a delphinium is a good quality on its own, this variety didn't stand out in any way; Nice full spikes, and good vase life - Will grow again; Seemed to be more heat tolerant than 'Pacific Giant' Series - Also, more compact/sturdy flower and plant with less susceptibility to toppling over; Big, beautiful stems, striking petal/ bee contrast; Very strong even when grown organically without extra fertility; Great uniforms, cut three times during the season.Postharvest
Too short (3); Variable, timing and stem height on first stem - Long term may not matter much; Only few bloomed - didn't do well in heat (Zone 8a); Not much vegetative canopy made for lots of weeds to be removed - Lower flowers dropped very early; I never got any flower stems worth writing about - I think the late start due to the wet spring and not being able to get into the field set these back - The only flowers were on 12 inch stems, very pale lavender color, sort of washed out looking; Not productive enough, all our other delphinium did better than these; Nothing this year, some plants survived the heat and should bloom next year.
Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | Average Spacing (in2) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | ||||||
| Average | 2.3 | 21.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 135 |
| Range of Responses | 0-10 | 5-36 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 36-280 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Looks just like the purple in the Round Table series - 'King Arthur'; Season is too short in N.H. - For many, cool annual crop - When the land is workable, its too hot; Seed is expensive; My favorite of the trials this year - Can't wait to plant other colors next year; Would like to try these again on a hopefully better weather year; I thought it was short and was not overly impressive as delphinium go - It did last over a week cut in plain water.