Trial: Annual

Years Trialed: 2003

Good Qualities

Great color (5); Good umbels, quick to flower, quite uniform, we grew them in a shade structure here (Zone 10); Excellent germination, made a good filler in bouquets, nice dark purple flowers and foliage, very productive, easy to grow; Delicate flower; Had many comments from customers, but we have trouble using it in mixed bouquets, very dark, easy to germinate and grow; Good filler; Very saleable flower in the summer; Great in bud and full bloom, dark stems look beautiful in a clear vase.

Problems

Color is not purple, it is burgundy or wine colored; Possible heat stress early, high 90F in late May; Wasn't a big seller, most customers thought it was a statice and asked if it could be dried, it turned brown fairly quickly; Not profitable for us; Need longer stems; I have a really hard time getting this plant to perform, will definitely try it again in better spot; Without support, some twisting and curving of stems.

Comments

Similar to 'Devotion'; Third year trying this series, needs to be taller; It would be nice to have these small seeds in pellet form; I would try one of the other 'Jemmy' varieties, I suspect if grown in the greenhouse, would have been taller and more appealing; Trachelium are difficult to grow in our state (NH), we have grown other trachelium with very little success; Began picking 8/5, continued blooming into October, frost tolerant; I think this one did not germinate for us or got over looked when we were seeding plug trays, we are going to plant 2 or 3 or all of the 'Jemmy' series in 2004; Unfortunately, none of my trachelium germinated.

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