Salvia Farinacea 'Reference'

Trial: Annual

Years Trialed: 1996

Good Qualities

Color (3); Very easy to produce.; Pleasant, pungent aroma, delicate flowers, dried nicely, pest free.; Excellent bedding plant.; Consistent flowering.; Took the heat and produced very well. After its first round of blooms, we chopped it off to about 6; tall and it came back with a second flush of growth and we had a second harvest off the same plants. The florists liked it and only a couple thought it smelled bad. No bug problems.; Blue and white flower spikes looked great.; It looked a little like lavender. It lasted well was a nice change from other summer flowers. It sold well.

Problems

Too short (5); Harvest timing must be impeccable in order to preserve flowering characteristics.; We had germination problems, I think we kept it too wet and it damped off.

Comments

It was similar to Salvia 'Blue Bedder' and 'Strata'.; Excellent fresh and dried.; This plant requires far higher heat units to produce long enough stems to be of use as a fresh cut or dried material (Olds, Alberta). 'Reference' is much taller than 'Strata'.; We were able to sell all we grew.


Trial Data

Salvia farinacea 'Reference'
Yield (stems/plant) Stem Length (inches) Market Appreciation Rating¹ Repeat Again Rating¹ Ease of Cultivation Rating¹
Average 7.4 13.0 3.2 3.9 4.7


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