Trial Started: 2005
Year of Trial: First (from 2005 report)

Good Qualities

Nice bright red color (5); Strong stems (2);. Well-filled blooms, some frost tolerance, blooms longer than 'Radiants', but not as long as 'Amazons'; Branching; High yielding; Light, pleasant fragrance, opportunity for some rebloom in Fall and MAYBE a better chance for height if it comes back next year on this year's sowing; Long growing season- early June to late July and still many usable stems; Large bloom period; Very good germination, good length; Repeat flowering and still good stem strength.

Problems

Not as vigorous as Amazon (5); Too short (3) made it difficult to combine with other thing in a bouquet ; Quickly came on all at once and then to seed; Bright red was difficult to "tame" or pair with other flowers, relatively short field life and fall rebloom included lots of singles; Individual florets on head looked bad (the first ones to bloom) when later blooms opened - all sweet series colors did this - had to spend a lot of time "cleaning it up" in order to sell it.

Postharvest

See separate postharvest report in this issue for results from NC State University postharvest evaluations.

Comments

Similar to 'Sweet Red'; Started in flats 1/25/05 - harvested from 6/23 - 7/7; Even under the same field conditions this year, this variety does not have the same outstanding qualities as the 'Amazon Neon' series - but I would be willing to see what it could do for next year if it survives the winter or reseeds itself for earlier bloom; Longer stems than 'Radiant Scarlet'; This plant has great potential! - if it can be improved to be more vigorous (or I can find ways to improve its performance for me) I would use a lot of it; Did well; The color range and flower size is very good in this series, but 'Amazon' is still more outstanding.

Trial Data

¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.

Supplier

PanAmerican Seed P.O. Box 438 West Chicago, IL 60186