Digitalis Mertonensis

Trial: Perennial

Years Trialed: 2000, 2001

Good Qualities

Year 1

Plants look fine - will flower next year; Excellent survival considering full sun and high heat intensity; Nice Bloom color - hardy plants - early blooms.

Year 2

Nice vigor, interesting color; Good color, uniform.


Problems

Year 1

Plugs not vernalized; No flowers; Poor stem length first season, few stems per plant.

Year 2

Low stem yield; Aphids, shorter stems than other varieties.


Comments

Year 1

No flowering data yet; Only had one plant survive the summer; Very popular but may not be economic.

Year 2

Poor production numbers; The longer the spikes can be held on plants the taller they will get, need to clean a few spent florets.



Trial Data

Year 1

Digitalis mertonensis
Plants alive at end of summer (%) Plants flowering (%) Yield (stems/plant) Stem Length (inches) Market Appreciation Rating¹ Repeat Again Rating¹ Ease of Cultivation Rating¹
Wholesale Retail Consumer
Average 95.0 7.1 2.3 29.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0

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


Year 2


Digitalis mertonensis
Yield (stems/plant)¹ Stem Length (inches)¹ Market Appreciation Rating² Repeat Again Rating² Ease of Cultivation Rating² Average Spacing (in2)
Wholesale Retail Consumer
Average 67 4.3 20.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.5 4.5
Range of Responses 0-100 4-5 16-24 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-4 4-5


¹Data shown are from those respondents who harvested stems. Some respondents may not have harvested stems because they were too short. Flowering stems may be longer next year after plants are established. See comments section for more details.

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



Supplier

Grow’n Sell 320 Lower State Rd. Chalfont, PA 18914 215-822-1276 FAX 215-997-1770