Chrysanthemum carinatum 'Merry Mixture'
Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 1999
Good Qualities:
Great color combinations and unusual patterns (4); Flowers are pretty awesome!; Daisy-like with different foliage. Holds up well in arrangements; Great keeping quality. Mixed well with many other cuts and was also sold by itself; Easy to spot good lowers. More vibrant, bicolors interesting. Filled in space around it, easy care; Good vase life; Have a friend that dried them - she uses short stems. Dried great; Good germination.
Problems:
Too short (5); The bugs loved this one. They chewed the blossoms so badly (what few appeared) that I was able to cut none. I also think they did not like the dry summer; First planting burned up in field. Second planting stems too short. Will grow again next year; They were really hard to pick because they bloomed so heavily. You really had to look closely to see which were useable or too mature; Same bug chewed on buds and a lot of flowers were missing petals. Older flowers faded. Some colors were dull, uninteresting. Fell over in winds, definitely needs staking/netting; stems brittle; Almost melted down in heat; long time between blooms on each plant; Gets tall and bushy - needs space; The rabbits loved it, they ate it all off, it came back, but by then was too short and bushy.
Trial Data
| Yield (stems/plant) | Stem Length (inches) | Market Appreciation Rating (1) | Repeat Again Rating (1) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 7.0 | 13.7 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 3.9 |
(1) 1 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
Comments:
Color combinations reminded me of Persian Carpet Zinnia which also had great keeping qualities; This was worst flower I have ever grown. Even after the bugs left and everything else recovered and flowered well, these guys were still doing nothing!; Too many other items to grow other than this item; Probably a good crop for bouquet use but my retailers did not care for it. Might have gotten taller but I couldn't justify irrigating it; Blooming time seemed short–about 3-4 weeks. Once very hot and dry weather started, the plants appeared to slow in production; The flowers had “old fashioned”, homey appeal; Think different cultural practices should held stem length; Too few and small flowers on a stem to be a marketable cut flower; I will try them again because of great color.