Trial: Annual

Years Trialed: 2003

Good Qualities

Beautiful colors (8); Nice color range (3); Large flowers (3); One plant is gold w/dark disk and is very attractive, good overlapping petals, Flat presentation; Nice petals, forms and size; Long stems, strong stems; Would make a good landscape plant; Nice mix of form, good production; Customers took bouquets of 'Autumn Colors' over 'Indian Summer'; Great for bouquet work, great vase life; Great rebloomer, still blooming on October 31 in Zone 6b; Especially for autumn, would be great in a border planting; This year the plants are stunted, however, in last year's trials they reached 24 inches and had 4-6 usable stems, they bloom 2 weeks later than 'Rustic Shades', but have a better color range, good autumn colors; Easy growers, prolific bloomers.

Problems

Too short (5); Better suited to fall production because of color; Deer love to eat rudbeckia, are not a good seller in our area; Not really "new" to anyone; Stems were much shorter than 'Indian Summer' which we grew this season; Retail florist thought the colors were too dark though; I have had difficulty getting these to perform well in the late summer when the market would be better for these flower colors; Wilted in vase, need to learn postharvest technique; Lacks consistency of color, most flowers are brown-red, some range to yellow and orange.

Comments

Similar to 'Rustic Shades'; I grew 'Indian Summer', 'Prairie Sun', and 'Goldilocks', none of my florists were buying them - don't know why, they were gorgeous!; Didn't sell well in summer, but a sell out every week in fall; We loved this color but our customers did not, the deer helped pick the stems so this number is a guessmatic; We have hard water, plants died in seedling tray from overhead watering, only 15 plants to bloom, while transplants I ordered from 'Indian Summer' grew well; My customers seemed to like this one better than 'Prairie Sun'; Plastic mulched crop matured about 7 days earlier than those in soil with no mulch; If the stem length could be increased this would be a real winner; Plants are susceptible to wilt; Nice plant for mid to late summer, good for farmer market sales. (See article in this issue for postharvest testing of this cultivar.)

Trial Data

¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.

Supplier

Benary Seed 1444 Larson St. Sycamore, IL 60178