Cut Flower Review

Cut Flower Review

Move over, carnations. A multitude of unique new cut flower varieties for 2007 are just waiting to grace the bouquets and arrangements that delight thousands of lucky recipients ever day. And this year’s introductions, with their cheery colors and lovely fruit and flower forms, are sure to bring smiles to many faces. We thank all of the companies that highlighted their new cut flower varieties in this feature. 

Advertisement

AGASTACHE

‘Sangria’ features lemon-scented leaves and clusters of arching red-purple blossoms. Available from Jelitto, this easy-to-germinate variety is a lovely perennial that will flower the first year.

 

ANDROPOGON

Top Articles
Vestaron Receives EPA Approval for Second Active Ingredient, Basin Bioinsecticide

Available from Jelitto, ‘Prairie Blues’ has ribbon-like leaf blades and fluffy, silvery seed heads in autumn and early winter. It is easy to germinate, drought resistant and cold hardy.

 

ANTIRRHINUM

Golden yellow flowers tinged with pink accents adorn the long, 40-inch, dense flower spikes of ‘Animation Cognac’ from Benary. Its long vase life and beauty make this variety a must-have. 

Deep Orange is new to American Takii’s F1 Chantilly series of open-faced (peloric) snapdragons, which have 48- to 56-inch tall spikes of large, colorful flowers. They have a light, sweet fragrance that adds to their appeal. In trials, Chantilly shows a very long vase life. 

The F1 ‘Cool Yellow Improved’ cut flower snapdragon from PanAmerican Seed offers strong, long-lasting color on long spikes. Stems are stronger, a little less thick and more uniform than the original Yellow variety. Cool is the best, most uniform winter-flowering snapdragon, offering uniformity across the series and within each color for timing, height, spike quality and stem quality.

CAPSICUM

With three to seven vertical stems per plant, ‘Conic White-Red’ from Kieft Seeds has branched stems that carry many thick and conical fruits reaching 3 to 5 centimeters in length. Its color changes from white over orange to red.

‘Topfruit White-Red’ from Kieft Seeds offers five to 10 stems per plant with clusters on top of each stem that look like bunches of flames. This variety’s fruits are erect and conical, reaching 4 to 6 centimeters in length. Color changes from creamy white over orange to red.

Kieft Seeds’ ‘Round Red’ offers three to seven vertical branches and stems well with egg-shaped, round fruits that reach 3 to 4 centimeters in diameter. Its color changes from deep green to strong red.

Cappa F1 capsicum from Kieft Seeds boasts strong stems and long-lasting, colorful fruits with a rich and fast setting. This basal branching variety is highly productive as a cut flower. (not pictured)

CONSOLIDA

The Cannes series of larkspur from American Takii reaches up to 60 inches tall and features double flowers. Cannes shows more tolerance to disease than other larkspur of this type and the series is early flowering with good long-day tolerance. Cannes includes six colors: Blue Picotee, Crystal Pink, Rose Stripe, Deep Blue, Lilac and Purple Picotee.

COREOPSIS

‘Limerock Dream’ from Blooms of Bressingham offers exceptional flower power, a unique hue and a uniform habit. This tender perennial has daisy-shaped blooms that start out apricot pink and mellow to coppery orange.

 

DIANTHUS

The Sweet F1 series from PanAmerican Seed Co. gives professional greenhouse and field cut flower growers a year-round D. barbatus offered in separate, bright solid colors with no vernalization required. ‘Sweet Scarlet’ is a deep red scarlet color and the series also includes ‘Sweet Mixture,’ of all colors: Coral, Purple, Red, Scarlet and White. 

DELPHINIUM

‘Aurora White’ is the sixth color in the F1 Aurora delphinium series from American Takii, which also includes Deep Purple, Light Purple, Blue, Light Blue and Lavender. As a hybrid, the Aurora series offers excellent uniformity and it is six to eight weeks earlier than open-pollinated types. It features large flowers with tight placement on stems that reach 3 to 4 feet in length.

GONIOLIMON

The sinewy, twisting sprays of tiny, star-shaped white blossoms of ‘Sea Spray’ offer long-lasting, fresh-cut bouquets. This variety from Jelitto is easy to germinate, drought resistant and cold hardy.

KALE

‘Pink Crane’ joins White, Rose, Red and Bicolor in the Crane series of kale from American Takii. Stems are 2 to 2 ½ feet in length. The Crane series offers great consistency in height and head size. To get color, the plants require an average temperature below 60°F, yet even when green, the blooms add an elegant touch to arrangements and bouquets.

LISIANTHUS

The Mariachi series from Sakata Seed America offers an innovative “quadruple” flower for more volume in mixed or solid bouquets. With an intricate flower shape, strong stem, more effective plant habit, strong peduncles and an impressive number of large flower buds, this series is a preferred selection. Reaching 3 to 4 feet tall, recent introductions include Lavender, Yellow, Blue Picotee and Carmine.

The Wonderous series is an early flowering lisianthus with a unique flower shape and texture from Sakata Seed. This new variety produces very hard, durable flower petals for exceptional tolerance in shipping, and has an exceptionally long vase life. Colors include Purple and Light Brown. 

Fioretti by Sakata Seed is an extra early flowering series of lisianthus, with 15 to 20 of the smallest flowers. Its unusual look makes it an exceptional addition to introduce interest in bouquets. This variety offers a shipping and handling advantage with hard flower petals for durability and a prolonged vase life. Colors include White, Yellow and Green. 

‘ABC 2-3 Green’ from PanAmerican Seed Co. is a double-flowered, F1 lisianthus that blooms uniformly within the color, displaying an outstanding double flower form with high petal counts. Its finished greenhouse height is 36 to 45 inches and this new variety offers faster flowering with a deeper green petal color. 

The Laguna 2-4 Purple lisianthus is a single-flowered, F1 variety from PanAmerican Seed Co. with a deep petal color and dark-colored buds. Selected for outstanding stem strength/caliper and flower quality, its finished greenhouse height is 33 to 45 inches.

ROSE

From Bartels Roses, Tara is a yellow rose that grows to about 30 inches tall. Bling Bling is a medium-sized rose with approximately 45 pink petals per bud. Tinto is a large, velvety-red rose with an average vase life of 13 days.

0