Trial: Annual
Year Trialed: 2004 Year of Trial: First (from 2004 report)
Good Qualities
Great bright color (11); Very productive (5); Strong stems (2); Long stems, tight flower heads, long produce period (8 weeks so far); OK hardiness; Nice double flower; Good uniformity; Did not begin to pick all the potential stems because when our'Benary Giants' started to produce, we stopped picking; Impressively pest-resistant compared with other zinnias, most saleable stems by color, nice formation; Good doubleness, more useful than 'Oklahoma Gold'; Fully double small flowers; Canadians are not great zinnia lovers in fresh, great as yard plant; A nice yellow to go with the 'Envy' and 'Benary's Giant White' provided a subtle range of soft colors; Mostly double flowers; given a better understanding of this little guy, we may be able to make money with it.Problems
Powder mildew (3); Flower size too small (2); No problems (2); We did not like this particular yellow color in our mixed bouquets; it just didn't seem the right yellow; Outdoors there were many short stems of limited marketability; Multi branching made it difficult to cut for less experienced cutters; Variable stem length even with early pinching; Small, branching flowers and stems.Postharvest
Hydraflor, Floralife; Water only, no cooler, morning cutting; Needs work. Editor's note: see separate postharvest article in this issue for more information.Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating¹ | Repeat Again Rating¹ | Ease of Cultivation Rating¹ | Average Spacing (in2) | Average Postharvest Life (days) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale | Retail | Consumer | |||||||
| Average | 12.8 | 16.2 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 97 | 8.4 |
| Range of Responses | 1-40 | 12-24 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-5 | 2-5 | 36-192 | 5-22 |
¹1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Comments
Similar to other Benary zinnias; Will definitely plant again; Sowed directly into a 128 cell tray in greenhouse on 4/16/04, harvest period from 7/8 to 7/19/04 though could have gone much longer; Very impressed with this flower; Healthy plants in a year of disease producing weather; This made a gorgeous landscape plant; Most of the test was spent trying to figure out how to handle this compared to bigger zinnias with longer stems; by the time we figured out how, when and where to cut, they were fizzled; Will not plant again, takes too long to harvest; flowers, some single, some double.