Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2003
Good Qualities
Excellent color (3); Strong stems (4); Plants were vigorous (2); Pollenless (2); Very tall for a cutting sunflower, if you need that much stem length, it could be useful; Huge sunflower head; Long stems; Fits customer image of sunflower; Typical brown disk gold petal-marketable; We liked the petals because they were longer petals than 'Sunbright' petals; Not bothered by insects, nice dark center, nice ruffling, flowers held upright on strong stems.
Problems
Short day flowering variety, which makes it very tall and late for summer field production, huge heads, massive stems, good for a sunflower maze, large foliage as well; Longer petals than average meant they bruised very easily; Quite a few plants were multiple head and useless to me; Stems about 2 to 2½ inches thick, rain and handling damaged petals, too large flower and stem; Thick goose-neck; None; A little shorter than other varieties, under 4 feet.
Comments
Similar to 'Sunrich Orange'; Sold many seed heads for decorations and bird food ($1 to $2 according to size of seed head); Have grown before, nothing too special for my market; Just about 4 feet tall; Kind of an unremarkable sunflower; Petals not as golden as 'Golden Glory', began blooming 9/10, about 2 months after seeding, and a week earlier than 'Golden Glory'; Would prefer more height and size to bloom, still a nice cut; One trialer's results:
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Fred C. Gloeckner
600 Mamaroneck Ave.
Harrison, NY 10528-1613
