Delphinium ‘Candle White Shades’
go.ncsu.edu/readext?225674
Year of Trial: First (from 2005 report)
Good Qualities
Nice clear white (3); Very tall/big blooms; Was good seller at market; Very nice stems, good length on first stem; Fast, large flower size, nice stems, uniform, the best of the candle series for me; Stands well in the field, still blooming October 12 (Zone 2); Good sized heads on flowers, strong stems; Tall attractive white spike.
Problems
Not very productive compared to ‘Guardian’ and ‘Pacific Giant’ varieties, did not like hot weather; Whites faded after 3rd day, looked more off white; Could not get to germinate; Okay – I just can’t grow delphinium from seed, it just withers away in the plug tray; Root disease wiped out this variety by early September in both tunnel and field.
Postharvest
For best whites use as soon as possible.
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 | 2.4 | 28.8 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 138 | 6.2 |
| Range of Responses | 1-6 | 18-40 | 4.0 | 3-4 | 33-4 | 2-5 | 2-5 | 36-324 | 5-7 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Sakata Seed America
18095 Serene Drive
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Comments
This one didn’t do well in our area; Could not get to germinate, although that may have more to do with growing flowers for the first year than any fault of the plant, will not likely grow again as wholesaler and retail florists can get much cheaper out of California during time of year that we could get it to grow – have noticed in our experiences as well as wholesale market that unusual white flowers are not in demand, probably due to color trends toward more color in everyday bouquets, weddings, and funerals – we have noticed that color sells!!; My delphinium did poorly across the board this year – first year plants did not bloom much at all, and established plantings were diseased and disfigured; General comments on trial (Zone 5): Plants were transplanted unto shallow beds covered with plastic mulch and with trickle irrigation, there were 2 replications in a high tunnel, and 2 outside, plants were arranged in a 12 x 12 inch spacing in 3 rows on each bed, plant death due to root disease was the dominant feature of this trial, with the exception of the Bellamosum types, all other varieties were essentially dead by early September – the unusually warm growing season may have contributed to this mortality.