The Japanese stocks flower trial was completed this week with the 3 colours of Anytime being the last to flower. Assessments of the stem length and weight have been taken for all planting and will be available in the final report but to summarise, all of the Japanese varieties have consistently produced a longer stem length but similar weight to the “traditional” varieties that were included in the trial.
The second flush of Veronica was also flowering this week although the blue was very weak and short. Powdery mildew has been a problem throughout this year and the second flush also has some infection despite a regular spray programme.
The overwintered Lysimachia Jumbo have been flowering for a couple of weeks now and we have experimented with removing the main flower and allowing the side flowers to develop. The result of this has been an amazing stem of flowers with a length of 80cms. While this is probably too large for supermarket work, it would make an excellent premium product for florists.
