Helianthus 'Terracotta'
Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2002
Good Qualities:
Rich, dark burnt orange color (8); Bouquet type, small flower, no pollen, dark disk; Very nice; Strong stems, good vaselife if harvested at right time; Tall; Very consistent; Produces lots of stems; Customers loved the color but considered it to be fallish and were not quite ready for that in August - With timing (plus good weather) it could be a real star among fall flowers - Were remarkable bug free, I could hardly believe it; Admired by all, long side-stems.
Problems:
Too tall and slow to flower, axillary buds in cluster, some off-colors; Bent necks; Tended to fall over at angles, whereas other sunflowers didn't; Stem lengths a bit short (often under 24 inches); Everything (centers and laterals) seemed to bloom at once.
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 | 3.5 | 33.5 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 109 |
| Range of Responses | 1-9 | 14-84 | 2-3 | 2-4 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 3-5 | 18-240 |
(1) 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Seedsense Ltd.
7, Bradfield Close
North Walsham
Norfolk NR28 oHL England
Comments:
Similar to 'Velvet Queen' and 'Earthwalker' but superior to both; Similar to 'Earthwalker'; Long ray petals, some very nice flowers that are smaller with overlapping petals; Nice secondary flower in bouquets, especially in the fall - 1st cutting netted nice center flowers for bouquets - We called them 'Mochas flowers' for our customer - more evocative name; A secondary harvest of 20-36 inch axillary stems (arising from 7-15 inch stumps) could have been made in the first week of Sept - approx 3-4 stems per stump; Is this day neutral? we'd like to be able to produce this one in Sept. 10.