Trial: Perennial
Years Trialed: 1999, 2000Good Qualities
Year 1
Color (3); Unusual flower; None; Flower first year from seed/plug. Nice kniphofia flower; Well established. Plants look excellent. Easy to grow, kept flowering all summer.Year 2
Easy (2); Prolific (I counted 50 stems off of one plant); Color; None; Prolific flower and flowers are unusual; Blooms first year from seed.Problems
Year 1
Difficult to market (3); The flowers spike tends to bend if it isn’t stored upright; I’ve grown this one before and had problems with it making it through the winter. I’ve had about 65% survival rate.Year 2
Hard to sell, people just don't know what to do with them; I would like to try this again and see if we can do better. It should survive here but doesn't seem to do that well; Not very saleable - very ugly; Just another Kniphofia - limited market appeal, flowers look old very quickly - ragged look.Year 2
Retail florist ask for this often; Not a significant improvement.Trial Data
Year 1
| Yield (stems/plant)¹ | Stem Length (inches)¹ | Market Appreciation Rating² | Repeat Again Rating² | Ease of Cultivation Rating² | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 4.7 | 20.6 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 4.6 |
¹Data shown are from those respondents who harvested stems. Some respondents may not have harvested stems because they were too short. Flowering stems may be longer next year after plants are established. See comments section for more details.
²1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Year 2
| Plants surviving (%) | Yield (stems/plant)¹ | Stem Length (inches)¹ | Market Appreciation Rating² | Repeat Again Rating² | Ease of Cultivation Rating² | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | ||||||
| Average | 91.7 | 10.0 | 28.9 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 4.5 |
¹Data shown are from those respondents who harvested stems. Some respondents may not have harvested stems because they were too short. Flowering stems may be longer next year after plants are established. See comments section for more details.
²1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Year 1
Customers really like the ones I brought to market. Hard to know when to cut these guys. Too soon and they wilted. I liked them though and hope they make it through the winter; Good cultivar if you want to grow kniphofia.