Helianthus 'The Joker'
Trial: Annual
Years Trialed: 2002
Good Qualities:
Interesting orange/bronze bicolor (7); Fast to flower (wk 24), uniform height and color - Long petals, no pollen, some secondary petals (not attractive) - Red is faded on some axillary buds; Pretty petal shape combine to make this a fine looking flower - Good 2nd bloom with stems long enough to use - Was the earliest of all sunflower to bloom; These are really very beautiful, fully double; Strong stems, held up well in water; Would do better in the fall; Pollenless, unusual and cheerful form, side branches made good grower bunches; Well accepted but needed to mix with other sunflowers to better sell them, strong stems and nice size of flowers, 5 foot plant height; Great novelty flower.
Problems:
Variable head shade (3); Too short (3); Bad seed mixes, many other types mixed in; Erratic bloom; From my experience...they will not tolerate any stress - If they are stressed, they produce totally unusable flowers; Didn't transplant well for us (Zone 7a); Variable color; Flowered early; Some customers thought flowers were wilted because of ruffled appearance; Mildew (Zone 5); Color not striking; Everything (centers and laterals) seemed to bloom at once; Multi-branching.
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 | 2.8 | 21.2 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 128 |
| Range of Responses | 0-12 | 0-38 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 18-432 |
(1) 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the best. Market ratings are based on sales to wholesalers, retailers, or final consumers direct.
Supplier
Seedsense Ltd.
7, Bradfield Close
North Walsham
Norfolk NR28 oHL England
Comments:
This was one of my favorites; The stem length averaged 34 inches with the majority of stems estimated to be marketable; Harvested 7/26-8/9 (Zone 6/7); Similar to 'Starbursts'.