Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Deep Red'
Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2001
Good Qualities:
Great color (9); Long flowering period (3); Tall (2); Stiff stems, little bit of leaf spotting but no other disease, long lived flower; Easy to grow; Made a great filler early in season when production in field is low; Good texture, nice shape in arrangement, lots of stems; Beautiful, bronze foliage; Interesting flower shape; Relatively pest free, uniform, long flowering period, doesn't need support; Customers loved it; Nice in mixed bouquets; Stem length; Pods.
Problems:
Aphids (3); Droopy in buckets and bouquet B postharvest a challenge (5); Wilts when 1st cut; recut, change the water; 2nd they will re-hydrate; None; Bleeding of stems; Sold better after pods developed and as dry, smell not liked by all; Early budding in flat required pinching to prevent Abolting@, but this may have been a fertility issue; Sometimes not enough color at once - made determining when to harvest difficult; Sap can be irritating to the skin; Rust; We had poor germination but what we got produced very well and was great.
Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating - Wholesale (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Retail (1) | Market Appreciation Rating - Consumer (1) | Repeat Again Rating (2) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (2) | Average Spacing (in2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 6.9 | 25.4 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 190 |
| Range of Responses | 1-20 | 12-36 | 1-5 | 4-5 | 3-5 | 2-5 | 1-5 | 36-432 |
(1) 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Kieft Seeds
P.O. Box 618
Conway, WA 98238
Comments:
Similar to 'Scarlet' (3) and to 'Red Butterfly'; 7 day vase-life in tap water at room temperature; Aphids love this plant; even after frost burn back, aphids were drawn to them; All the asclepias sold extremely well for me this year B I don't know if it was the expanded color range or if people are just enjoying reds, oranges and yellows more than they used to.