HI Daffnetters,
Here are the trial results from the Christchurch show in which the members of the public had a vote for their favorite flower.
Like Hawera very interesting.
1st Tracey 40 votes
2nd Modern Art 22 votes
3rd Monkswood 18 votes
4th Riptide 13 votes
5th Bunclody 12 votes
6th = Fresh Lime and Precedent 11 votes
Total votes 127
Malcolm
I think most of us also have a tendency to decorate the insides of our homes taking into account what the view out the windows will be. That being the case, if I had a soft English palette going on in my garden, I’d probably want a similar color scheme of soft colors on the inside so they would blend. And if I went to market and had a choice of a bunch of brilliant Gold and RED/ORANGE daffodils, or a bunch of lemon yellows, I’d pick the yellows every time. They might compliment the blues and lavenders and pinks and greens in my home.
I suspect people buying cut flowers have no appreciation for the individual flower as we who exhibit do. They just want to put a little bit of the outdoors in their indoor space at the end of a long winter.
So Brian, if you want them to buy orange and red, you are going to have to first sell them a new sofa and chairs in rich hot colors and get them to paint their walls in bold hues. Oddly enough, MANY of those of us who do exhibit have an odd tendency to worship at the test tube of all white flowers. Why is that? Somebody tell me the theory behind that? I personally don’t get it. Nothing against all white flowers, but I’m not IN LOVE with them like a lot of people.
Chriss
Hi Colin every area in NZ will come up with different results often depending on what choice you have and indeed how they are marketed and what other flowers are available .In my experience some consumers not only purchase daffodils but a range of other flowers as well and will often purchase the colored daffodil that will blend in with those other flowers e.g. blue, yellow or white iris..
Having done some research and trials in a supermarket with 30,000 customers walking through the door weekly we could in that store alone by smart marketing increase sales of which ever division and color you wished to push.
An example I took some lovely Div 8 red/yellow with strong scent with a range of all other colors that were available including Neavesville gold and with clever ticketing we were able to sell the Div 8 first, the trick was to market it with clear instructions that if you were looking for fragrance then this is your best option.
Customers when they see daffodils often pick them up smell them, hello no fragrance so they put them back.
Neavesville were a close second with a white double a close third then a mixture of 2yr with the yellow trumpets fourth then the 1YW. Whilst the Div 6 attracted a lot of interest however they were slow to sell.
Colin you are correct to a point with your last paragraph however I would have to say that anything new such as some of your lovely split coronas with bright colors definitely have a place in retail sales in preference over yellow trumpets especially towards the end of the season.
One thing is for sure the consumer will always dictate the way daffodils are purchased and these surveys are a clear indication of the people’s choice based purely on what they see in front of them.
Interesting at the Turners and Growers flower market in Wellington early in the season when the well known Kiwi Solstice hit the market it sold at a premium of up to $2.0 over any other daffodil at the auction.
From my personal point of view I would use this information and do what I think that would work in my area and would accept totally that different areas will have different tastes just like beer. In the Deep South your preferred poison is Speight’s Lower North Island Tui and further North DB
Will catch up with you on the weekend and swap some notes.
Regards.
John
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