Zinnia 'Oklahoma Carmine'
Trial: Annual
Year Trialed: 2004
Year of Trial: First (from 2004 report)
Good Qualities:
Rich color (10); High yield (4); OK hardiness; Very strong stems, Good; Nice stems; Way to go Benary Seed Co., my new favorite color of >Oklahoma= Zinnia; Good doubleness, long strong stems; Good for bouquets; Mostly double flowers; given a better understanding of this little guy, we may be able to make money with it.
Problems:
No particular problems; Powdery mildew - mid Aug. (Zone 5); Flower heads too small; Got powdery mildew faster than the other colors; Some variation in color among 12 plants; Very irregular in flower head size; Customers prefer large zinnias; Small, branching flowers and stems; Bad powdery mildew.
Postharvest:
Editor's note: see separate postharvest article in this issue for more information.
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 (1) | Ease of Cultivation Rating (1) | Average Spacing (in2) | Average Postharvest Life (days) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | 12.5 | 16.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 113 | 8.1 |
| Range of Responses | 4-35 | 9-23 | 2-4 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 2-5 | 4-5 | 36-144 | 5-18 |
(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:
Similar to other Benary zinnias; My customers also loved this one B They always bought it all!; The addition of these 3 colors makes the >Oklahoma= Mix more complete; Most of the test was spent trying to figure out how to handle this compared to bigger zinnias with longer stems B by the time we figured out how, when and where to cut, they were fizzled; Will not plant again, takes too long to harvest B flowers, some single, some double.