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.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 | 6.8 | 13.9 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 101 | 8.3 |
| Range of Responses | 1-12 | 10-19 | 4.0 | 1-5 | 3-4 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 36-192 | 7-10 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
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.