- Publication Date : January 1, 2021
This is an anniversary year…of what, you ask? Marigolds. It was ten years ago that marigolds first appeared in the ASCFG Trials. At the time, they were met with a great deal of skepticism.
While the marigold has been a major cut flower in some parts of the world, it had been thought of primarily as a bedding plant here in the United States and Canada.
Their fragrance—some may say “odor”—was not loved by all. But ten years later it’s clear that cut flower marigolds are here to stay. Their productivity, reliability, and bright colors have made them an important product on many farms.
Cut flower marigolds have long been part of the cultures of India, Pakistan, and Mexico, and have become increasingly popular with American and Canadian consumers as well.

This is year we had nine marigolds in the trials (see great photos of all nine from Rachel Lord and Nathan Jahnke), including one billed as lime green with no odor. The quest for an odorless marigold has been long running, but maybe not on the order of the 50+ year quest by Burpee to find a white marigold. ‘Nosento Lime Green’ fit the bill with very little smell to the foliage. By the way, if you are wondering about the unusual name, say it slowly: “No sent Oh!” Not sure if there was a correlation but a number of the trialers noticed that Japanese beetles loved this cultivar. Here at NC State ‘Nosento Lime Green’ was the beetles’ favorite by far. While the billing of the cultivar as odorless was accurate, the color was not quite as advertised. Flowers started out a greenish yellow but quickly opened to a pale yellow. The color was unique in the trials, and many trialers liked it, but it was not lime green.
The top performing marigold in this year’s trial was ‘Xochi Orange’, with its vivid orange flowers, long, strong stems that averaged 22 inches (longest of all the marigolds in the trial), and high productivity of close to 10 stems per plant. One trialer said it most directly: “KEEPER!” Several noted that ‘Xochi Orange’ was the tallest marigold in the trials, with one simply stating that it had “ridiculously tall plants”. It appears that the days of trying to make short bedding cultivars work for cut flower production are over!
The top performing marigold in this year’s trial was ‘Xochi Orange’, with its vivid orange flowers, long, strong stems that averaged 22 inches (longest of all the marigolds in the trial), and high productivity of close to 10 stems per plant. One trialer said it most directly: “KEEPER!” Several noted that ‘Xochi Orange’ was the tallest marigold in the trials, with one simply stating that it had “ridiculously tall plants”. It appears that the days of trying to make short bedding cultivars work for cut flower production are over!


But ornamental kale is a prime example of why we do trials. While we can’t grow a decent crop in our Zone 8a climate, growers in other areas can and they certainly loved the cultivar in this year’s trials. ‘Crane Ruffle Bicolor’ was the top-ranked cultivar in the trial. The ruffled, creamy white leaves were a “unique novelty to add to the selection of brassicas now available”. The heads were a nice size, large enough to stand out but not so big as to limit their use. Stem length ranged from 12 to 30 inches with an average of 22 inches. Ornamental kale usually has a great vase life and this one is no different with trialers reporting an average of 12 days. Unfortunately, not all were enamored of it. All the top scores came from those in Zones 4 and 5. Certainly, we think there was some self selection going on; those who traditionally can’t grow ornamental kale well in the spring may have passed on evaluating it.
As more and more growers have learned to produce the temperamental lisianthus, cultivars have been doing better in the trials. This year ‘Jolly III Pink’ was one of the highest scoring cuts in the trials for its long, sturdy stems topped with fully double flowers. Stem length averaged 21 inches, with growers getting anywhere from 12- to 36-inch stems (check out the stems that Misty Moman grew). Folks harvested about 3 stems per plant. As with most lisis, vase life was great, with flowers lasting over two weeks. One trialer wrote “Totally obsessed with this variety—perfect for wearable work”. The other two, ‘Echo Purple’ and ‘Echo Pure White Improved’, also did well (see the photo from Joy Longfellow); ‘Echo Purple’ was especially beautiful with its dark velvety purple flowers that open from striking buds, striped with purple and lavender (check out photos of the buds). Both cultivars produced about 2 flowers per plant that averaged about 19 inches long.

Sunflowers generally do well in the trials and this year was no different with both ‘Marley’ and ‘Ziggy’ receiving high scores. Fast to flower, stems lengths averaged about three feet, and while most trialers treated them as one cut and done, a few harvested multiple stems. Here at NC State we got a good return crop from ‘Marley’ of stems that were perfect for bouquets. The colors of ‘Marley’ and ‘Ziggy’ were very different from the typical orange sunflowers. ‘Marley’ was described as having an “eggplant center fading to a cream” or “plum-red ray petals which lighten to lemon yellow at the tips of the petals”. ‘Ziggy’ was similar but darker with more red tones, although as with most bicolored sunflowers, there was quite a bit of variability in the colors. One trialer noted that the colors allowed the flowers to be used all season long, and another said “I like the bicolors. In a design, they are much more versatile”. One surprise from the trialers’ comments—no problems were listed for ‘Marley’ and only one for ‘Ziggy’; not something we see very often!

Interestingly, the three nigellas, ‘African Bride’, ‘Delft Blue’, and ‘Midnight Dark Blue’ (evaluated as a mix of the three cultivars) scored well on the trials, also likely due to the fact that nigella does well for only some growers and they evaluated them. Regardless, nigella is a great cut to try with its charming flowers and striking pods. Trialers especially loved the colors of ‘Delft Blue’ and ‘Midnight Dark Blue’ flowers, with one referring to ‘Midnight Dark Blue’ as “stunning”. The pods were mentioned by many as well. Some trialers harvested the entire plant while others harvested individual stems, resulting in an average of 4 stems per plant that averaged 17.5 inches long. Divisions Cut Flower Farm reported plant heights of 24 to 30 inches for ‘African Bride’, 18 to 24 for ‘Delft Blue’, and 28 to 32 inches for ‘Midnight Dark Blue’, when sown in fall under 4-foot poly tunnels. We had problems getting the nigellas to germinate, as did others, yet some had “great germination” with direct seeding.




One of the best things about reading the trial results is seeing how differently some cultivars perform for all of us. Of the three celosias here at NC State, ‘Red Ace’ was very tall, with stems over 3 feet (see Jamie Sammons’ photo of ‘Red Ace’ next to her dog!), and ‘Act Rima’ and ‘Cristi Purple’ stems were a little over a foot tall. While a couple other trialers had results similar to ours, the majority had long or relatively long stems for all three, averaging 23 inches for ‘Act Rima’, 22 for ‘Cristi Purple’, and 26 for ‘Red Ace’. One reason could be photoperiod; celosia tends to be a facultative short day plant. It is possible that ‘Act Rima’ and ‘Cristi Purple’ are more sensitive to short day photoperiods than ‘Red Ace’. We started our plants in late winter when days were still fairly short and others may have started them later under longer days. However, there was a lot more agreement on other traits: all three were strongly single stemmed, although some side shoots were produced for ‘Act Rima’, with large, beautiful heads in rich colors.
We tested two snapdragons this year, both of which were open-faced types. ‘Chantilly Deep Orange’ is part of a series, and ‘Purple Peloric Expt.’ was an experimental variety. As many of you know, botanists love to name plants, and in this case “peloric” refers to the mutation in snapdragons that causes normally asymmetric flower to become radially symmetric, or open face, as we horticulturists call them. Regardless of their names, both scored well for their attractive colors. Stems averaged about 23-24 inches, and both produced a good second and even third harvest for a number of trialers, including here at NC State. One trialer wrote that ‘Chantilly Deep Orange’ flowers “opened red/magenta and faded to a dark orange/brick red with purple throat”. Several reported that ‘Purple Peloric’ flowers were vibrant and fantastic!
The ASCFG seed trials are generally limited to annuals, but occasionally fast-flowering perennials, such as verbena ‘Purple Haze’, also do well. ‘Purple Haze’ is hardy in Zones 7 to 11 and hard to be beat for sheer productivity. The reported average was about 15 stems/plant, but some harvested up to fifty. Here in North Carolina they were so productive we got tired of harvesting them. Stems were a respectable 26 inches long. The downside was the small heads that tended to drop florets. This is not a species for straight bunches as it takes a long time to make a substantial bunch, but it works well for bouquets.


In fact, one trialer commented that it was a “vibrant purple that lights up the bouquets”. They went on to say that “Verbena was my gateway flower when I first starting in design school.” How cool is that? ‘Purple Haze’ is billed as being 20% shorter than the original species, which seemed to be the case in our trials. Another trait we and others noticed is that the stems are scabrous and can scratch the skin. Wear gloves when harvesting this one.


Zinnias are the most commonly-grown cut flower in the United States and Canada. Consequently, we had high hopes for two experimental varieties: ‘Orange’ and ‘Purple’. They started promisingly, with disease-free foliage; uniform, fully double flowers; and stunning (“saturated”) orange and purple colors (is the breeder a Clemson fan?). Alas, the plants were way too short for most uses—many trialers described them as great bedding plants. Ouch, not what you want to hear in a cut flower trial! At NC State we were able to get some height on the plants late in the season after they were overshadowed by the marigolds, which caused them to stretch. We can hope breeders continue to work on this, one as one trialer said: “Get it taller and it’s a star!” Not to be deterred, Jamie Sammons dried the flowers and noted that they held their colors very well (see her photos). Talk about “making lemonade out of lemons”; the folks in our industry are always resourceful!
Based on the combined ratings score (market appreciation + repeat again + ease of cultivation), the top ten cultivars will be nominated for the ASCFG Cut Flower of the Year: ‘Jolly III Pink’ lisianthus; ‘African Bride’, ‘Delft Blue’, and ‘Midnight Dark Blue’ Mix nigella; ‘Crane Ruffle Bicolor’ ornamental kale, and ‘Marley’ and ‘Ziggy’ sunflowers.
Interpreting the trial results: The numbers reported are averages of all the respondents, and many factors will affect the success of any cultivar. Our participants grow and harvest trial plants using several methods. After looking at the average, check the range of responses listed below each number to see how the cultivar performed at its best and its worst. If the range of responses in the ratings is narrow and high, i.e., 3-5 or 4-5, the plant was a winner for most of the respondents and is likely to do well for you. The ‘Repeat Again Rating’ is particularly important because it indicates if the trialer would take the time, money, and space to actually grow the cultivar again. Review the trial results carefully. If a variety sounds interesting, but did not appear to do well, try it anyway; it may work well for you.

Good Qualities: Beautiful texture and color (5); Beautiful ruffle (2) unique novelty to add to the selection of brassicas now available; The head size is nice and stays a smaller size when spaced tightly, we have experienced that other ornamental cabbages can become too large; Long vase life—nice and bulky; Once the frost came, always a hit in the fall at the market; A big favorite with our customers; Tall vigorous plants, slightly taller than ‘Crane White’, ‘Crane Red’, creamy white, ruffled leaves contrast with dark green outer leaves, the ruffled leaves provide contrast and interest compared to the others in the Crane series.
(Sakata Seed America)

(Sakata Seed America)
Campanula ‘Champion II Rose’
(Sakata Seed America)



(American Takii)


(American Takii)




(Sakata Seed America)


(American Takii)






(Evanthia Seeds & Plants)




• ‘Delft Blue’: Of all varieties I grow, this is by far the shortest.
(American Takii)










