Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2006Good Qualities
Great smokey blue color (5); Great germination (3); So pretty, I like the small, bushy look of it; Plant is vigorous - If I had started before March, as recommended by breeder, I could have reported on the flower stems too - Fleuroselect Gold Metal 2007 speaks well for the improvement in Eryngiums; Reasonable number of stems for this perennial in its 1st year, great flower for bouquet, great vase life; Not all plants threw flower stalks, not sure why most threw one stalk- a few 2-3, hardy, easy, hope it will come back next year; Adds texture to bouquets - stems were short but am hopeful they will be longer next year; We did not get this planted early enough for 1st year blooming, it is just sending up flower stalks (10-7-06), looks like it will be a great flower; We have never grown Eryngium before so we don’t have any comparisons, but we were very happy with this plant and the flowers - They started blooming late in the season, they seemed quite frost hardy, took several light frosts - The plants grew well, we hope they will over winter and produce well next season, definitely a good addition to our varieties; Productive; plants are still alive so we think it will be taller next year, it might have been taller if it had gone out in the fall instead of spring; Looking for more stems and greater length in next year; Hardy plants, good growth.Problems
Some did not have a stem until October; On 8/28 green – no sign of blue yet, 9/8 some flowers showing blue, 9/12-9/16 used in bouquets nice long stems - side branches also useful for smaller bouquets; Came into bloom late in the season - hoping it will over-winter here in Zone 5 and be more prolific in the 2nd year- will report back; Is somewhat smelly, not enough to turn us off; Somewhat difficult to work with - sticky and rigid; It stinks but customers said no worse than caspia.Similar Cultivars
Other Eryngium planums; Echinops retro; thistle; Common sea holly.Postharvest
I had several comments about how they ‘smell like cow manure’ (in fact, several people thought I had used cow manure to grow them!) - It was the pollen, as I never smelled it in the field, one event florist just rinsed the whole bunch of it off under water, and had no further problems; Always use Hydraflor 100 Floralife, though this variety requires little special handling.Trial Data
| Plants flowering (%) | Plants dead at end of summer (%) | Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||||
| Average | 1.8 | 16.3 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 121.1 | 11.9 |
| Range of Responses | 1-4 | 13-18 | 4-5 | 4-5 | 3-4 | 2-5 | 3-5 | 36-192 | 7-18 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
I would plant much closer together next time, especially if treating as an annual; Will always grow; Dried very well- we air dried a few stems- excellent color retention; Needs a more sophisticated consumer to appreciate; Sowed 2/20/06 in 128 tray and harvested 9/15-10/15; This one really surprised us, it did very well, customers loved it and every stem sold even the short ones; I am eager to see how this flower performs next year!