2019 Seasons in Review: Must-Grows to No-Gos
More than 90% of the flowers I grew this year were totally new to me! This fact of course added to the anticipation of every new bloom, but the unfamiliarity added a level of worry as well — how would the flowers turn out???
Growing flowers is such a story of trial-and-error, so here are some of my 2019 successes — those that have earned their position as permanent Sunburst Blooms varieties — as well as a few flops I’ll probably never grow again (eeek!).
spring
Must-Grows:
Tulip “Brownie”
Seriously the best antique color I could’ve ever asked for in a tulip — it starts out coppery-orange and matures into a full warm brown when fully open. The cherry on top? This variety has so many layers it looks like a peony!
Tulip “Foxy Foxtrot”
This double tulip variety starts blooming a perfect butter color, and matures into a pure yellow before aging further into a sunshine-gold with streaks of rose. It’s like three tulip varieties in one!
“Foxy Foxtrot” (upper left) & “Brownie” (lower right) tulips
“Delnashaugh” Narcissus
Narcissus “Delnashaugh”
Besides doubting my ability to pronounce this variety accurately and auto-correct constantly telling me it’s mispelled, “Delnashaugh” is a stunning, double, fragrant, pinky-peach daffodil.
Need I say more?
No-go:
Tulip “Blue Spectacle”
This variety was a huge disappointment for me. Yes, the flowers themselves were double and a perfectly cool-toned lavender fading into a shock of bright blue at the center; however, the stems were terrible. It’s very common for tulip stems to arch and bow once they’re past their prime, but this variety’s stems started bending into an S-shape before the buds were even open, making them an immediate cut-flower flop despite the beauty of the blooms.
Tulip “Blue Spectacle” buds & half-open blooms (left) bending over, next to older “Angelique” tulips on much straighter stems (right).
summer
Must-Grow:
Lilium “Salmon Party”
Absolutely my favorite new gem from this Summer! “Salmon Party” is not only perfectly named, but fragrant, long-lasting, and gorgeous with its salmon dots and orange-to-lime ombre from the petals, inward.
Lillium “Salmon Party”
Meh:
Lilium “Chocolate Event”
A chocolate-speckled beige variety, I haven’t quite made my mind up about this one yet. The flowers didn’t disappoint, per se, but they didn’t wow me either. Let’s just say “Pending Approval” ;)
Lillium “Chocolate Event”
Lillium “Mapira” at the center of a CSA Bouquet.
Lilium “Mapira”
It’s a similar story with this lily variety! The gorgeous, deep wine flowers were exactly what I was hoping for, but the bloom-to-bulb ratio was worryingly low. Perhaps I’ll try a different method of growing next year, and see if this variety responds any better!
No-go:
Lilium “Josephine”
This lily variety was a magnificent disappointment and also very, very slow to bloom. It was supposed to be a big, gorgeous, fragrant pink lily — sounds great, right? Well unfortunately, many of the bulbs didn’t produce stalks with buds, and many of the buds on the “luckier” stalks bloomed into underdeveloped flowers that weren’t usable and went straight into the compost pile.
Autumn
Must-Grows:
Dahlia “Peaches ‘n’ Cream”
When I first started searching for this variety, I found “Peaches and Cream” dahlia tubers and assumed they were the same flower. Turns out they are not the same — trust me, the “and” versus “‘n’” makes all the difference in the world.
So I kept trying to get my hands on tubers for this in-demand variety for two years, and — finally! They’re here! And more than worth the wait.
My new favorite dahlia for sure, “Peaches ‘n’ Cream” is a delight to grow, each bloom coming in a little differently — some with more peach, others with more cream or light blush, but all of them stunning and total eye candy.
Dahlia “Peaches ‘n’ Cream”
Dahlia “Cafe au Lait Royal”
Dahlia “Cafe au Lait Royal”
A spin-off of one of the most iconic dahlia varieties, “Cafe au Lait”: the wedding dahlia.
“Cafe au Lait Royal” is a rosier version, with fewer pastels on the petals than the original. However, the rosey-purple streaks of the petals are totally lovely — some blooms coming in with more cream, others with more rose. And, of course, the iconic fluttery petals are consistent in this new cultivar as well, making it that much prettier!
The original is one of my absolute all-time favorites, but Cafe au Lait’s royal cousin is itself a keeper too!
Sunflower “ProCut Red”
The darkest sunflower variety I’ve grown, these flowers are deep, deep, red and almost velvety black towards the center. Totally stunning, I will absolutely be growing these again next year!
Sunflower “ProCut Red”
Meh:
Sunflower “Teddy Bear”
I’m honestly confused! I used one packet of seeds, and about 1/3 of the sunflowers from it looked like the variety’s stock photo, while the remaining 2/3 or so looked totally different! Now it’s totally possible that seeds from a different sunflower variety got mixed up in one packet, but to have so many of the wrong variety mixed in is pretty unusual! It’s also possible “Teddy Bear” flowers have a range of different blooms — I guess I’ll have to try again next year to know for sure!
Sunflower “Teddy Bear”
A version of “Teddy Bear”, or a totally different mystery variety???
No-go:
Sunflower “Sun-Fill Purple”
A variety grown not for its flowers, but for its buds, “Sun-Fill Purple” wasn’t nearly as cool looking as I had hoped. Perhaps I’ll try this variety in the future, but for next year at least it’s out of the running.
And that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the successful (and not so successful) flowers I grew this year. Many more new varieties to come in 2020, here’s to hoping most of next year’s newbies are Sunburst Blooms-approved too!