in lieu of Snapdragons...

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BloomingFlorida

BloomingFlorida

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Apr 12, 2009
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Gulfport
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Florida
Now remember... :newbie

My standing order includes Snapdragons, and I'm finding that a) I don't really like them b) they don't last very long c) I'm throwing away what I think are way too many

What would you gurus suggest as a replacement flower? About the only thing I can think of that has the color variety (larkspur) still has about the same lifespan. Hardier selections seem to not have the color selection, or good year-round availability. Any suggestions? Thanks....
 
I buy up larkspur when it looks good but I have a hard time finding healthy and nice looking larkspur. Otherwise I love it. I have the same snappy problem. When they look good, they really look good but they seem to go south fast. Now, what I use and love instead is stock flower.
 
If I may ask, where are your snaps coming from? Florida, S.A., California, Canada?
Their origin and how they are handled may effect their vase life. Prolonged dehydration or ethlyne will certainly shorten thier lifespan. You could try a different
source, but if you really do not like them, larkspur and stock would be your next best for color and line.

jan
 
Fortunately I haven't had a lot of problems with Snaps. I love using Larkspur although I find it doesn't last quite as long. I try to order what I can turn over quickly. Ordering Stock is a real crap shoot as sometimes the bloom spike is only a 2 to 3 inches long, but sometimes as much as 6 to 8 inches. But the stem length is too short to use as a replacement for Snaps. For a line "flower" I like to keep Bells of Ireland on hand even though it only comes in green (dang!)

There are several types of flowers for which I have a love/hate relationship (Lisianthus springs to mind.)
 
Ecuador delphs. Last longer.
 
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Not just YOU!

concord said:
My snaps used to last a long time but over the last several months the quality has gone way down so I don't use them as much. Over all, I am finding the quality of everything to worse from all my wholesalers. Is this happening everywhere or just here in the Boston area?
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Stuff all over has been backing up in the pipeline due to lack of consumer demand.

Canadian and California Snap has usually had a much better level of shelf life than anything coming from South America.

And yet, as of the past four months, I've noticed a shorter shelf life with even the Canadian and California Snap growers available through my local wholesale suppliers. The worst seems to be when the snap stems are too hydrated, probably due to a long stint in water, either at the farm, or at my wholesalers.

The stems simply break in the middle when we're using them in our vase arrrangements. That lends to waste and shrinkage which I can no longer afford to deal with.

Have no solution to that problem other than to try and use another spike flower which has better results.
 
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concord said:
My snaps used to last a long time but over the last several months the quality has gone way down so I don't use them as much. Over all, I am finding the quality of everything to worse from all my wholesalers. Is this happening everywhere or just here in the Boston area?
Click to expand...
I'm finding the quality is way down at my local supplier. I stopped buying snaps months ago. Every once in a while I'll try them again, and could kick myself because it's the same old thing, if they don't break, then the blossoms start to brown by the next day. Luckily most of our flowers are coming from Transflora, and the quality has been fantastic on everything
 
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I'm finding some pretty old stuff on the trucks, seems like the wholesalers are holding stuff longer. Waiting to find out if my guy will try selling me the roses he ordered too early last week, for this week's dances. I had some snaps go down recently, so I recut them and put them in hot water, they're still looking good. We use liatris, bells, tall myrtle, snake grass and flowers like gerbs and carns for that tall line.
 
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