A number of the new crops are in full flower this week with samples being sent far and wide.
The Cleome is very interesting (see photos below) but it is not the easiest of products to work with owing to its spikey stems and leaves. We are waiting for feedback from customers.
The new range of Scabious from Danziger called Scoop (see pictures below) is generating considerable interest and seems to have a good vase life. It has a wide range of strong colours but the main downside seems to be stem length which may restrict its use in bouquets. Stem counts and length are being recorded for each colour.
The weather held long enough to get the sweet William herbicide trial sown at the end of this week using 2 different varieties. The first of the herbicide treatments will be applied early next week. The asters in the herbicide trial are establishing well (see right hand photo below).
The new variety of “Trick” delphinium started to flower this week and the unusual flower form is of interest to some customers. However it does seem to have a “leaf issue” (see right hand photo) which will need to be resolved before its market potential can be fully exploited.
The second round of stocks in the hydroponics trial are growing well and this week the plugs that have been planted into net pots and oasis blocks in week 26 were planted in floats in the pond. It will be interesting to see how they perform in comparison to those planted directly into the floats.
The Bullush funded trial looking at various AD mixes for boxed lilies was also planted this week and will now be cold stored before being housed in one of the tunnels.
