Trial: Annual
Year Trialed:2009Good Qualities
Beautiful color (5); Very prolific flowering (3); Early to bloom (2); No pest or disease problems; Long lasting in the field, easy to cut in clumps; Persistent grower, could cut each week; Color mixed well with many other flowers for bouquets, nice accent, germination was good.Problems
Flower heads small (2); Short stems (4); Weak and floppy, especially later in the season; None; Difficult to see where to cut to keep new growth coming, was more affected by disease than Gomphrena ‘Audray Pink’ and ‘Purple Red’; Not a problem, but I think the stems were so full that when I tried to cut them they easily got tangled up; It is on the short side but not so short it made it unusable; Was so much shorter than my regular QIS purple and pink gomphrena that I did not bother to cut it, stem length was 6 to 8 inches; A few taller stems but not many.Similar Cultivars
Growing the same as other gomphrenas; ‘Las Vegas Pink’ and ‘Las Vegas White, different colors but reacted to disease and grew the same.Postharvest
Cool water, Floralife, cool after cutting and don't leave in heat of the field; None; Floralife; Water; Postharvest life "forever".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 | 15.2 | 14.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 100 | 10.1 |
| Range of Responses | 5-60 | 10-23 | 2-4 | 4 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 36-168 | 6-14 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
All stems were the same height; During trial, contracted a bacteria (was never officially diagnosed), this was determined because the plants that were cut were much worse than the ones that were not cut, the leaves curled and turned red and brown on the edges, stems and leaves also turned crispy, my hands felt powdery after I cut them which came from the stems and leaves, however, this did not affect the flowers, the color was only a little washed out, and the plant still kept the same average number of stems per plant, after not cutting for 3 weeks, leaves and stems look much better, to where it's hardly noticeable, affected vase life by 2 days; I liked the flower for it's color and the plant grew very nice, it was full and had many blossoms per stem each week; It got about half the height of the Audrey series for us, the colors were nice but the taller gomphrena varieties are easier to harvest; I think it was too wet and cold for this crop this year, harvested numerous short stems; Cornell trial yield: 11 stems in field, 14 stems in tunnel and length: 18 inches in field, 21 inches in tunnel, this is also being marketed as a container plant and would be an excellent choice.