Week 19 and 20 update

The Breanthus and Solomio are growing away well but it is clear that some of the Breanthus varieties still need some further development by the breeder because they have thrown up one weak, short premature stem while the other varieties are still in the vegetative stage (see photos below)

In week 20 we planted a wide range of “American” varieties of bloom asters (at 64 plants per sq/m) in a further attempt to find a reliable replacement for the “blue” Krallen varieties that are in demand by the markets but proved troublesome when produced on a commercial scale.  This trial has also been replicated on a growers holding.

The overwintered aster ericoides are growing vigorously  (see photo below) and we will be starting to black them out in about a weeks time in order to try and obtain two flushes from the crop.