Trial: Perennial
Years Trialed: 1999, 2000Good Qualities
Year 1
Easy to grow (2); Long, straight stems; Good bouquet item; Well established. Plant look excellent.Year 2
Short stems, easy, large flower size; Excellent filler.Problems
Year 1
Too short (2); Like the ‘Tara’ all solidasters are nice, but I’m not sure they have enough value to take up bed space. They come from Holland at very low prices; Cheap item. Wholesale buyers expect year around supply.Year 2
Not as vigorous as 'Tara', gets kind of weedy looking; Disease made lower leaves unmarketable and flower quality less than 'Tara'; Not as productive or tall as other commercial cut flower cultivars.Year 2
Similar to 'Tara' but later and less prolific; Similar to Solidaster (Solidago) 'Yellow Submarine', 'Tara' and to species Solidago; Solidaster just don't seem to do well in our area - just to hot (Zone 6b); Color faded quickly, poor stem length.Trial Data
Year 1
| Yield (stems/plant)¹ | Stem Length (inches)¹ | Market Appreciation Rating² | Repeat Again Rating² | Ease of Cultivation Rating² | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 9.3 | 22.3 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 5.0 |
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 | 60.0 | 6.3 | 20.8 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 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
Similar to ‘Tara’ (3); Similar to Solidaster ‘Yellow Sub’; About the same height from same planting date as Tara. However, fall planted or 2nd year Tara is 3 to 4'; Tara finished just before this one, would make excellent planting of both for prolonged harvest; I can’t find my label for this plant but I’m quite sure it was planted next to ‘Tara’ and they both performed exactly the same; Open airing filler. Less usable than patented cut flower varieties; Cheap to grow but we can usually buy it even cheaper; All survived, rough establishment year; I probably should have mowed it down early, but I didn’t.