Helianthus 'Sunny'

Trial: Annual

Years Trialed: 2001

Good Qualities

Saleable; Fewer blooms and larger; Good standard sunflower color; Thick stems, large attractive flowers; Large disk short petals, uniform; It grew well, had nice size stems, good stem length - lasted well, looked like a sunflower.

Problems

None (2); Had a few dud flowers; Average cultivar in a group of plants with many great cultivars; Late to bloom, lots of bug damage later in season; I didn't like the large petals; We weren't impressed with any of these sunflowers. They didn't seem to hold up in the heat well, they bloomed really fast and seemed to attract more insects.

Comments

Similar to 'Sunrich' and 'Sunbright'; In future will grow only 'Sunbright'; Good early, uniform growth but overall flower appearance didn't really stand out from the 'Sun' senes; I liked this one and will grow again; It seemed vigorous; Similar to many other sunflowers; it looked like the others so much - that I wouldn't grow it again just because I'm happy with what I'm growing and understanding the timing for planting to keep flowers blooming all summer; Single yellow - ray flowers consistent good stem length, dark disk, short ray flowers (.1 inch); Late to bloom; I got good tall slender stems on all the sunflowers and nice small 3; - 5; inch heads;  They were used in wreaths and table designs and all the customers were very happy; 'Sunny' had insipid yellow color and malformed heads, all centers curled in on themselves.


Trial Data

Helianthus 'Sunny'
Yield (stems/plant) Stem Length (inches) Market Appreciation Rating¹ Repeat Again Rating¹ Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ Average Spacing (in2)
Wholesale Retail Consumer
Average 1.3 43.9 3.3 3.6 3.8 2.9 4.7 124
Range of Responses 1-3 18-96 2-4 3-4 3-4 1-5 3-5 36-432


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. 60178 Harrison, NY 10528-1613