Trial: Perennial
Years Trialed: 2000, 2001Good Qualities
Year 1
Nice pink color (2); Good rebloom; Excellent number flower stems per plant (estimate 15-20) but too short to use; It wants to flower - from the minute the plants were received it was throwing blooms.Year 2
Good color; Attractive pink flowers.Problems
Year 1
Too short (3); Some weird buds/flowering within the foliage rosette; Arrived too late in season to make good growth before flowering; Hopefully next year the stems will be longer and stronger; Typical of this type of scabiosa - wiry stems with heavy headed blooms go down in wind and rain (which we had lots of this year) then the stems twist and bend and are very hard to harvest/use; I await next year.Year 2
Too small of stems to make a nice bunch for wholesalers; Too short, small flowers; Really short; Powdery mildew, downy mildew, stems are multi branched, wirery/twisted, too short.Year 2
Good hardy plant, not a cut flower; Nice landscape plant?Trial Data
Year 1
| Plants alive at end of summer (%) | Plants flowering (%) | Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||||
| Average | 94.4 | 87.5 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 4.2 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Year 2
| Yield (stems/plant)¹ | Stem Length (inches)¹ | Market Appreciation Rating² | Repeat Again Rating² | Ease of Cultivation Rating² | Average Spacing (in2) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | ||||||
| Average | 95 | 20.6 | 13.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1 | 2.0 | 4.3 |
| Range of Responses | 80-100 | 5-30 | 12-15 | 1-3 | 1-4 | 1-0 | 1-4 | 3-5 |
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
Seemed more lavender than pink; More suitable for landscape plant; They bloomed but were very short so I didn't harvest so they wouldn't get additionally stressed; Need 2nd year, but bet it will be too short.