Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2002
Good Qualities
Gorgeous dark color (12); Small flower with short petals; Noticed by many market customers, good stem length, harvest period was almost a month could sell in straight bunches and in bouquets; Tall, unique and really pretty; Good breaks - Stood well after Aug. snowstorm; Excellent variety, a little easier to handle than 'Moulan Rouge' and better color; Healthy strong stems, slightly droopy heads on some plants; Sold well; Nice head size 3 1/2-inch heads - If I cut the center bud off early I had better branching, more stems per plant, but the stems were not very long, 14-18-inch maximum bouquet stems; Good form, much better than other red varieties I have seen; Multiple stems made good grower bunches for farmers market; Well accepted, good producer, plant height was good and many good stems; More consistently dark than other reds.Problems
Too short (3); Dark color, axillary buds, side branches not useable; Virtually all of the flowers lost at least one petal before the flower had completely opened - I have never had that happen before and can offer no explanation; Direct seeding more successful - Transplants poorly...flowered too short; After 1st three cuttings, stems a bit weak/wobbley; Blooms looked sunbleached compared to 'Prado Red' - Not as well received as the yellows; We only had 1/2 dozen seeds germinate of this variety; Color was not long lasting; Some of the heads nodded down and black spots on foliage were not attractive; Heads shatter after 1 week storage; Japanese beetles took over late in season, that was true for many varieties; Multi headed.Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | Average Spacing (in2) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | ||||||
| Average | 3.0 | 28.8 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 118 |
| Range of Responses | 1-9 | 8-60 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 12-36 |
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 'Moulin Rouge'(2), 'Prado Red' (2) or 'Claret'; We re-named these 'Chocolate' sunflowers, which made them an even bigger hit - Would definitely grow again; Of the plants that grew, several opened up the week we pulled them - Very deep, dark merlot with heads, 3 to 4-inch, with a few possible side shoots; This was not as well liked after first week of bloom; After harvest of the primary stems only isolated secondary growth was observed from 4-5 inch stumps; Held petals better than 'Moulin Rouge' - But more uniform dark brown than 'Moulin Rouge' - Great for bouquets whether mixed with other sunflowers or other types of flowers; We like this one over 'Prado Red'/'Moulin Rouge' because the petals are dark on both sides - Other reds have yellow on petal reverse - Also, seemed less prone to deformed heads (off center disk) under heat stress; Some customers thought it was 'Red Velvet' - More stems could have been cut, if I had continued cutting - Harvest dates 8/5 - 8/14 (Zone 6/7); Another nice sunflower, well accepted.