I have the most beautiful carnations this year. I've finally figured out that growing them as biennials works better here than trying to get them to flower in one season. This way I get great flowers and really nice long stems. And they smell so good.
They certainly look good Margaret - I grow a few here but often the wet spoils them. Wish this was smellivision then I could get a whiff of their heavenly smell,
ReplyDeleteMargaret,
ReplyDeleteI used to work for a company that grew carnations (standards and minis) in greenhouses in Pennsylvania. They would plant them about now and grow them through the summer. They would start flowering in early winter and would continue through the cool season (low 50’s) until it got hot again. They would then tear them out and start over, but other places keep them in for two or three years and just keep raising the support wires. They are fairly easy to root from cuttings which can be stored for several months in the refrigerator. A very rewarding crop with ample opportunity for day dreaming with all the disbudding involved.
-Robert (Cathy McBride’s brother)
Robert, mine are grown outside as in this area the winters are mild enough for them to survive. Mine, however, did not survive a second winter. Do you know what varietiers were being grown. These are Chabauds.
ReplyDeleteThey used to grow the old classic cut varieties like the 'Sims,' but since the industry moved to South America those are unavailable and they now get rooted cuttings from California Florida Plant Co; but I just looked at their website (http://www.cfpc.com/index.html) and only saw ornamental looking varieties. I can't remember the variety names of most of them, but some were certainly better than others. The most popular with customers (they have a retail flower shop as well) was a purple called 'Lavender Lace.' It was small headed for a standard but had the most amazing strong clove like aroma. And good strong stems. Also, like most good cut varieties it would last 2-3 weeks in a vase. I will find out the names and get back to you.
ReplyDelete-Robert
These are the CFPC varieties of standard carnation that they grow. I made notes of what they thought of them but your growing conditions are different and you would very likely have different results.
ReplyDeleteKiller – Red - Excellent
Acardia – Red – Not as good as Killer
Adagio – Burgandy – Very good
Pallas – Yellow – Poor like all yellows
Raggio De Sole – Orange - Decent
Kristina – Purple and Lavender - Exceptional
Katia – Pepto Bismal Pink - Good
Katrina – Pale Pink - Excellent
Nora – Pink – Good, staple pink
Lavender Lace – Lavender – Exceptional