Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2001Good Qualities
Bright color (5); Very productive (3); Light sweet scent; Long bloom time (zone2), nice single/bigger florets; Kept flowering, easy to pick, held up for 7 days in vase with food water, bright, cheerful; Fast from seed; 'Bouquet Purple' and 'Cinderella Mix' were the best and my customers loved them both; The white wasn't as popular; Real powerhouse, great for bouquet markets; Are there any other colors, purple was not too popular; Nice stem length.Problems
None (2); Mildew on leaves, flower heads not vigorous; Tops turned brown after cold spell - while there were a few flower buds in between brown; some plants in same bed just died (3%); Must stay up with harvest or becomes difficult to cut.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 | 10.6 | 15.8 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 104 |
| Range of Responses | 1-18 | 8-24 | 4 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 4-5 | 36-324 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
The most promising cut trialed 2001 for us; excellent, brilliant blue, pink long lasting vase-life and blooms over extended period of time; We are wintering over the remaining plants - side mulched with row cover over; After initial cut flowers came back sporadically, so we cut plant 1/2 down - flowers came back; Looks similar to 'Gypsy Giant' (color and form) but not as large as 'Gypsy;' This did really well spring planted but I think that this will do even better if fall planted; Flower clusters small; Inflorescense not self-cleaning; Similar to 'Melody's', color close to 'Noverna Purple'; Bedding plant, too common.