NOTES FROM THE FIELD 



1995 UNH Outdoor Cut Flower Summary 



Charles H. Wlliams 



^ B ^^uring the last five years, the most rapidly 



• m ■ expanding segment of our state's floricul- 

 m m ture industry has been in the area of grow- 

 M ^^ ing outdoor cut flowers. While some of this 

 production finds its way into the traditional wholesale/re- 

 tail florist market, much of it reaches consumers through 

 roadside stands, farmer's markets, and pick-your-own op- 

 erations or are sold directly to local restaurants, offices, 

 etc. Most of the fresh cut flower sales are cash-and-carry 

 and are sold "un-arranged" for the buyer's enjoyment. 

 Sales are independent from national "floral holidays" or 

 special events like weddings or funerals. Some are pre- 

 served and sold later in the form of wreaths, dried ar- 

 rangements, etc. 



Consequently, we have been running outdoor cut 

 flower trials here at the UNH Experiment Station at 

 Woodman Farm in addition to the bedding plant display 

 at Prescott Park in Portsmouth. 



For those of you not familiar with our Woodman Farm 

 plantings, the plants are started from seed and trans- 

 planted into 806 Cell Paks at the UNH greenhouses. In 

 mid-to-late May, they are planted through a four-foot 

 wide black plastic mulch in either double or triple stag- 

 gered rows at the appropriate spacing. A complete fertil- 

 izer (15-15-15) is incorporated at the time of site prepa- 

 ration and overhead irrigation is applied during periods 

 of drought. Here are some observations and comments 

 on this past year's trial. 



ACROCLINUM 'Goliath Redshades' This multi-purpose 

 flower grew 16"-20" stems and had nice, almost cup- 

 shaped, rose-to-pink flower heads 3/4"-!" diameter. 

 However, only 50% of the plants were flowering by 

 mid-September. 



AGASTACHE The cultivars 'Blush' and 'Carmine' were 

 tried this year. They grew only about three feet tall and 

 were later and less vigorous than the standard lavender 

 and white varieties. These plants also have aromatic 

 foliage and pink and red flowers very attractive to bees. 



AGERATUM 'Blue Horizon' did very well again, blooming 



from mid-summer till frost on 20"-26" plants. In the high 

 tunnel, the plants averaged 34" stem height. 'Bavaria', a 

 blue-and-white selection, came in around 18" and had 

 stems too short for most commercial markets. 



AMARANTHUS Red Cathedral Superior'— A real 

 attention-getter! A tall plant (up to 65") with deep red 

 chenille-like floral spikes 2"-3" diameter on 24" sturdy 

 stems with reddish-green foliage. The secondary spikes 

 were more open. Good both fresh and dried for larger 

 arrangements. 'Love Lies Bleeding', an older selection 

 with cascading flower heads, also grew to 60", but be- 

 came top-heavy and leaned over. 



AMMI MAjUS A quick and early — but short — bloomer 

 (from early July into August). The height was only 18"-24" 

 tall and stem length and quality was poor this year. This 

 annual "Queen Anne's lace" has not produced well from 

 transplants for us and might be best direct-seeded A 

 selection 'Green Mist', however, grew 28"-34" and pro- 

 duced 2 l/2"-4" flower heads on sturdy 18" stems from 

 August into September. Nice fern-like foliage. 



ASTERS 'Power Puff' grew from 22"-40" and flowered mid- 

 August until early frost. Royal Bouquet Blue' produced 

 dark blue flowers with creamy white crested centers on 

 32"-36" plants 'Pompon Mix' had 2" flowers opening 

 together on 18"-22" plants. (Cut whole plant.) 'Opus' had 

 attractive ball or peony-shaped 4" white flowers with rosy 

 tips on 25" plants; 'Giant Princess', 22"-26" plants with 

 3" flowers that have curled outer petals and crested or 

 quilled inner petals in a variety of colors; 'Perfection', 

 3" double flowers with good stems on 28"-36" plants; 

 'Premium White/Red' is a novel double Picottee-type with 

 2" flowers on an upright 25"-30" plant. 'Florett' had 

 double-quilled, 3"-3 1/2" flowers on 24"-32" plants of 

 variable quality under our conditions. 'Tiger Paws' had 

 large 4"-5" double "football-mum" type flowers on 25"-30" 

 plants that are spectacular, but with a relatively short 

 season and weather tolerance. 



BELLS OF IRELAND Novelty fresh or dried spikes of 



FEBRUARY ♦ MARCH 1996 



27 



