As any retailer or grower will tell you, marketing is as much or

NATIONAL POINSETTIA TRIALS Purdue University Best Red Cultivars Percent As First Choice 16 14 12 8 6 4 2 Consumer Guide To Poinsettias Find out if the poinsettias you are growing or plan to grow will be popular with consumers. Figure 1. Favorite red cultivars from White River Gardens/Purdue University Open House out of 16 cultivars on display. Participants were asked to select their three favorite cultivars. Plants were numbered and not labeled by name. Results are based on 1,67 responses. Percent As First Choice 4 35 3 25 2 15 Orion Red 5 Visions of Grandeur Gala Red Sonora White Glitter Enduring Red Purdue University Best Novelty Cultivars Carousel Red Christmas Star Dulce Rosa Early Joy Red Christmas Feelings Shimmer Surprise Valentine Premium Red Independence Red Shimmer Pink Avant Garde Silent Night Silverstar Marble Prestige Merry Christmas 2 Figure 2. Favorite novelty cultivars from White River Gardens/Purdue University Open House out of cultivars on display. Plants were numbered and not labeled by name. Participants were asked to select their three favorite cultivars. Results are based on 1,24 responses. Purdue University Favorite Cultivars Cultivar No. of Percent responses as favorite Jingle Bells 4. 146 7.3 Visions of Grandeur 114 5.7 Dulce Rosa 5 5.2 Shimmer Surprise 94 4.7 Valentine 85 4.2 Monet Twilight 74 3.7 Mars Pink 62 3.1 Premium Picasso 53 2.6 Strawberries n Cream 46 2.3 Sonora White Glitter 44 2.2 Enduring Pink 41 2. Winter Rose Early Red 38 1.9 Figure 3. The 9 cultivars on display were labeled by name and breeder. Participants were asked to select their three favorite cultivars. Results are based on 2,13 responses. By John Dole, Allen Hammer and Jim Barrett As any retailer or grower will tell you, marketing is as much or more an art as it is a science. Certainly growers can keep track of which poinsettia cultivars and colors are sold each year and use that information to help plan for the next year. This assumes, of course, that they know when a cultivar or color ran out. Even with all of that work, however, variations in sales of specific colors and cultivars from year to year can drive a crop scheduler insane. Marketing surveys can make the forecasting a little easier, and we have the results from three universities and one retailer to help you: Purdue University, University of Florida, North Carolina State University and Homewood Nursery and Garden Center. Collecting The Information Each site conducts its survey slightly differently, so before we can give you our results, we need to give you the particulars of how the information was collected. Purdue University. Purdue s poinsettia evaluations were conducted in cooperation with White River Gardens, Indianapolis, Ind. Plants were displayed in a conservatory and arranged in three different groups. In the first group, all of the 9 cultivars in the trial were labeled by name and breeder. Visitors were asked to pick their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorite cultivar from this group. The second grouping contained the most important 16 red cultivars, identified only by number. Visitors were asked to select their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorite red cultivar (which ones they would purchase). The third group contained novelty cultivars also only identified by number. Visitors were asked to select their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorite novelty cultivars (which ones they would purchase). Depending on the group of plants, results were based on 1,24-2,13 responses. University Of Florida. At the University of Florida evaluations were conducted in the production greenhouses. Selected cultivars were arranged in groups of, and participants were asked to select the three cultivars they would purchase. Other cultivars were arranged in groups of four and participants were asked which single plant they would purchase. The plants in all groups were identified only by number. Results were based on 265-28 responses. Homewood Nursery. At Homewood Nursery and Garden Center, Raleigh, N.C., the public voted for their five favorite poinsettias out of a group of 45, each identified by a number. Customers were asked to select their five favorites without ranking them. The survey was conducted from Nov. 19 to Dec., and 598 people cast votes. North Carolina State University. NC State University held an open house indoors at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum under artificial lights. All 4 cultivars were presented, with two plants of each cultivar on display. Of the 18 attendees at the Consumer Open House, 127 filled out surveys. It was no easy task for the participants because they had so many cultivars from which to choose. To make the job easier, cultivars were organized into six groups: red, pink, white, jingle bells, marble and novelties. Consumers were asked to select their three favorite cultivars within each group. They were also asked to select their three overall favorite cultivars and their three overall least-favorite cultivars from all of the cultivars on display. High Scorers Let s start with the overall favorite cultivars. At Purdue the overall top cultivar was Jingle Bells 4.. It has a classic jingle bells pattern with medium-red bracts covered with pink flecks. Jingle Bells 4. has scored well in the marketing surveys many 22 GPN March 26

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NATIONAL POINSETTIA TRIALS Write in 734 times over the last few years. Monet Twilight received the honors at University of Florida. This long-time favorite was also the number five cultivar at NC State and Purdue. Shimmer Surprise received the most votes at Homewood for two years in a row now. This striking cultivar has a bold jingle bells pattern with large white and pink patches and spots on bright-red bracts. The overall favorite at NC State was Chianti. This plant has conspicuously dark-brick-red bracts and bright-yellow cyathia. In addition to scoring high in the overall vote, half of the attendees listed it as one of the top three favorite red cultivars quite a feat considering that there were so many red cultivars to choose from. Chianti was also ranked in the top in 23 and scored high in 24. Two cultivars were in the top for three of the surveys: Winter Rose Early Red and Dulce Rosa. Winter Rose Early Red has been available for several years now and is well known by many consumers. While growers tell us that sales of curly bract poinsettias are waning, the consumers in these trials are still enjoying them. Dulce Rosa merits a little more explanation. Dulce Rosa grabbed the attention of many of the survey participants but not always in a positive way. It was ranked number three at Purdue, number five at Homewood and number six overall favorite at NC State, but many placed it among their least favorites. Obviously, opinions were divided on a novel bright-pink cultivar people either loved it or hated it. In the all-important red category, Orion Red was the favorite cultivar at Purdue University. This early flowering cultivar with bright-red bracts is a strong grower and makes a classic poinsettia plant. Other top red cultivars at Purdue were Gala Red, Enduring Red, Christmas Star and Early Joy Red. Prestige Red was voted most likely to be purchased at the University of Florida trial. It has become a favorite of growers because of its strong, uniform growth and even flowering always nice when consumers also like the same cultivar. Rounding out the top five reds at Florida were Christmas Spirit Bright Red, Red Velvet, Novia and Freedom Red. The top red cultivar at Homewood was Prestige Maroon. This very- Homewood Nursery And Garden Center Favorite Cultivars Ranking Cultivar Total Votes 1 Shimmer Surprise 174 2 Prestige Maroon 164 3 Winter Rose Early Red 144 3 Cortez Burgundy 144 4 Malibu Rose 122 5 Dulce Rosa 112 6 Coco 2 7 7 Enduring Pink 94 8 Carousel Red 86 9 Early Joy Red 81 Early Orion 8 11 Prestige Red 74 12 Visions of Grandeur 71 12 24 (Ecke) 71 13 72 (Ecke) 59 14 9 (Ecke) 58 15 Malibu Red 56 16 Silverstar Marble 55 16 Enduring Red 55 17 Shimmer Pink 53 17 Monet Twilight 53 18 Carousel Pink 5 19 Independence Red 49 19 Avant Garde 49 2 Peterstar Red 46 Write in 716 Figure 4. Retail customer survey of select cultivars at Homewood Nursery & Garden Center. Fortyfive poinsettia cultivars were displayed, each cultivar identified by a number. Customers were asked to select their five favorites without ranking them; not all customers chose five. Results were based on 598 completed surveys. 24 GPN March 26

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NATIONAL POINSETTIA TRIALS University Of Florida Cultivar % Selected Representative Color Types Monet Twilight 54 Sonora White Glitter 43 Snowcap 41 Winter Rose Dark Red 35 Prestige Red 29 Enduring Pink 28 Marblestar 26 112 21 Carousel Pink 15 Da Vinci 6 Comparing Marbles Strawberries n Cream 41 Holly Berry 28 Christmas Feelings Marble 21 Christmas Time Crazy Marble Comparing To Freedom Christmas Spirit Bright Red 54 Freedom Red 21 Cortez Electric Fire 2 Nutcracker Red 5 Comparing to Orion Orion Red 5 Novia 26 Sonora Red 14 Independence Red Novelty Red Chianti 37 28-4 26 Winter Rose Dark Red 19 Kris Krinkle 18 Figure 5. Favorite cultivars from the University of Florida trials out of either or four plants. Plants were numbered and not labeled by cultivar name. Participants were asked to select the three plants (group 1) or the single plant (groups 2-5) they would purchase. Results are based on 28 (group 1) or 265 (group 2-5) responses. dark-red cultivar was also number six among the 46 red cultivars on display at NC State. Other popular reds at Homewood were Coco 2, Early Joy Red and Early Orion. Besides the previously listed Chianti, other favorite reds at NC State included 9 (trial entry) from Ecke, Christmas Feelings, Cortez Electric Fire and Christmas Star. Interestingly, the number cultivar was Nutcracker Red. This cultivar is one of the older reds in the trials this year and has been available for a number of years, reminding us that new is not always better and the most important thing is to pay attention GPN to what the consumers are buying. John Dole is professor of floriculture at North Carolina State University. Allen Hammer is professor of floriculture at Purdue University. Jim Barrett is professor of floriculture at University of Florida. They can be reached at john_ dole@ncsu.edu, pah@hort.purdue.edu and jbarrett@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, respectively. LearnMore For more information related to this article, go to www.gpnmag.com/lm.cfm/gp362 12 8 6 4 2 North Carolina State University Best Novelty Cultivars Monet Twilight Dulce Rosa Cortez Burgundy Winter Rose Early Red Premium Picasso Shimmer Pink Carousel Red Premium Van Gogh Silverstar Marble Winter Rose Early Marble Figure 8. Favorite novelty cultivars from NC State Open House out of 23 cultivars on display. No incentives were offered for voting, and cultivars were labeled by name. Results are based on 375 responses. Cultivar NC State University Rank Overall Favorite (out of 4 cultivars) Chianti Red 1 Sonora White Glitter 2 Visions of Grandeur 3 9 (Ecke) 4 Monet Twilight 5 Dulce Rosa 6 Winter Rose Early Red 7 Christmas Feelings 8 Jingle Bells 4. 8 Cortez Burgundy 8 Favorite Pink (out of 12 cultivars) Visions of Grandeur 1 Mars Pink 2 Premium Hot Pink 3 Christmas Feelings Pink 4 Malibu Rose 4 Favorite White (out of 11 cultivars) Arctic White 1 Snowcap 2 Premium White 3 Enduring White 4 V-119B White 5 Favorite Marble (out of 6 cultivars) Holly Berry 1 Christmas Feelings Marble 2 2 Sonora Marble 3 Favorite Jingle (out of 6 cultivars) Sonora White Glitter 1 Jingle Bells 4. 2 Sonora Jingle 3 Shimmer Surprise 4 Christmas Feelings Jingle 5 Figure. Top favorite cultivars from NC State University Open House. Responses were either for all cultivars or for specific cultivar groups (by color). No incentives were offered for voting and cultivars were labeled by name. Results are based on 345-365 responses. 6 University of Florida Best Red Cultivars 5 University of Florida Best Novelty Cultivars 18 North Carolina State University Best Red Cultivars 5 45 4 16 14 4 3 2 35 3 25 2 15 12 8 6 4 5 2 Prestige Red Christmas Spirit Bright Red Red Velvet Novia Freedom Premium Red Peterstar Red 28-4 Primero Dark Red Mars Figure 6. Favorite red cultivars from the University of Florida trials out of cultivars on display. Plants were numbered and not labeled by cultivar name. Participants were asked to select the three plants they would purchase. Results are based on 28 responses. Cortez Burgundy Visions of Grandeur Monet Twilight Sonora White Glitter Holly Point Shimmer Surprise Dulce Rosa Carousel Red Winter Rose Dark Red Experiment 1124 Figure 7. Favorite novelty cultivars from the University of Florida trials out of cultivars on display. Plants were numbered and not labeled by cultivar name. Participants were asked to select the three plants they would purchase. Results are based on 28 responses. Chianti Red 9 (Ecke) Christmas Feelings Cortez Electric Fire Christmas Star Prestige Maroon Sonora Dark Red Kris Krinkle Mars Nutcracker Red Figure 9. Favorite red cultivars from NC State Open House out of 46 cultivars on display. Participants were asked to select their three favorite cultivars out of those on display. No incentives were offered for voting and cultivars were labeled by name. Results are based on 374 responses. March 26 GPN 27