Scabiosa Salmon Queen and Black Knight
Scabiosa has long been a favorite with flower farmers whether from seed or vegetatively reproduced. In our Wedding Blossoms Collection for 2024, Ball included two from breeder/producer Takii Europe/Sahin: Scabiosa Salmon Queen and Black Knight.
What a lovely pair these made! The dark and the light teamed up well side-by-side in The Gardens at Ball this past summer. They both started to bloom mid-July and produced an abundance of stems through mid-September – making these very profitable choices to grow.
Flower size stayed uniform even in higher temperatures and they did not mind the summer heat and humidity. The stems were over 30 inches tall. Black Knight performed so well, our designer chose it as a design competent for an arrangement photographed as the cover of our new Ball Seed Cut Flower Catalog, working harmoniously with apricot matthiola and dark purple larkspur. Black Knight added just a bit of the dramatic flair needed.
For a touch of texture, I used the pods left over after the flowers aged in my own bouquets, adding an interesting twist.
Salmon Queen and Black Knight were planted directly into prepared beds from a 128-tray in week 21. Bio 360 weed barrier was used to keep weeds at bay while the young plants were established with drip irrigation installed under it. We hand-watered the beds for the first two weeks to help get them off to a good start. The temperatures were unusually hot and dry the week they were planted but they still thrived. We did not use supports in the field and they stood up to many storms and high winds. However I would think for best results and straighter stems that supports would be recommended.
Salmon Queen and Black Knight are reliable performers!
For 2025, the collections items from 2024 will be available as part the collections or as separate items. Seeds and plugs are available for booking now. Contact the Ball ColorLink team to place your order or log into your Ball Seed WebTrack account to get started.