Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2002
Good Qualities
Very different flower form with usual curved petals (5); Bright golden yellow color (3); Uniform dark disk, gold, good stem; Bloomed with the early sunflowers - a nice looking single stem sunflower; Medium flower size; Good lasting cut - interesting look in bouquets - different texture for bouquets; Germinated and grew well in extreme conditions, unfortunately, lack of pollen and branches; I thought it was nice but it might be better suited for a high tech exhibit, it looks like it came from space; Germinated well under very dry conditions; Maturity stretched over 2 weeks, was essentially the main crop for over 2 weeks - Sold well; Flower size and color well accepted, nice strong stems, plant height about 5 ft.; Good plant height, not multi-branching, interesting flower, good novelty.Problems
Petals too narrow (4); I loved the flower form on these plants - Unfortunately, my customers did not - I still don't understand why - I think that these are really cool and I will try them again - The customer is not always right; Outer petal too large for my taste; Does not sell by itself, consumers expected flower to become fuller after further opening big, but not showy; Petals shriveled looking very wilted (one of us actually liked the look, go figure); No one bought this variety; Heads droop on stems, few face upward, stunted growth, flowers are hardly bigger than 1 to 2 inch; Inconsistent yield, often did not get a useable stem off a plant; Weeds took over area, but didn't bother plant height, mildew set in early (zone 5); Weak stems, flower quality inconsistent, petals fell off quickly; No problems.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 | 1.5 | 29.0 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 150 |
| Range of Responses | 1-12 | 15-50 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 18-432 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Editor note: See the Postharvest Report in this issue for vase life and handling information. I tried to market as the "spaghetti" sunflower (more attractive than "spider"), no go, as a big flower in farmers market - Florists/arrangers would probably appreciate it much more; Will try again with more crowded seeding - it looks better in less fertile soil, shorter, thinner, better petal-to-disk proportion, more appealing; 3-5 inch heads that, if the wilted petal look is in, would make these hot - control them, not! While one of us gave this a strong nod, the other didn't, our policy is we both like it as it doesn't go, so, no go; Matured in 69 days - Just too different; I think a direct sowing would produce a better crop - A good speciality crop for mid season (Zone 7/8).