We’ve got a couple of lisianthus series to talk about today, I’m trying to make my way through all the varieties I’ve ever grown. Hopefully it helps someone narrow down all the choices out there.
The Corelli series is a go to for me, I’ve been growing certain colors for years! I’ve found them to be consistently tall and the flowers are beautifully ruffled.
Corelli Rose 3
Corelli Rose is a great contender if you need a soft pink lisanthus in your line up. Definitely not blush, but not a carmine either. I’ve never had a problem with this variety being tall enough even though all my lisianthus are field grown. We even had a good second flush off our April planted successin this season. It’s a great variety
If you like this you’ll probably like Lisianthus Celeb Rouge. (I could barely tell them apart)
Corelli Light Pink 3
Such a good blush lisianthus!! They have a dark burgundy center and an elegant formed bloom. Prolific and always tall.
If you like this you’ll probably like Celeb Queen, Voyage First Love, Celeb Beige Neo.
Corelli Sugoi Yellow 3
Corelli Sugoi Yellow are much more ruffled than the regular Corelli series. Bigger flowers and more ruffles. The color for these are still a soft yellow, but the buds are slightly more satured than the ivory/buttercream of Mariachi Yellow.
The Roseanne Series
I’ve got some caveats for the Roseanne series. Florists love their muted tones and I’ve seen gorgeous things done with them. Even the general public thinks they are cool when they get to vote on their favorite out of nine lisianthus at our Utah Flower Day event, Roseanne terrracotta came in tied for third.
However, I ran a little experiment during the aranging workshops at the Backyard Cut Flower course. Students make arrangements out of what they have grown and harvested, while I bring in a few different things to supplement what they have. This year I brought in a big bucket or two of lisianthus for each of the nights. Each time I had at least a handful of Roseanne Brown and Terracotta stems in the buckets. Each time no one chose them. (I remained silent, just observing. I think most just naturally gravitated to other colors that were easier to combine with what they had grown) I convinced someone to take them home and experiment with them, they made some gorgeous bridal shower arrangements with them. I’ve also heard of retail customers thinking they were dead when perfectly fresh.
Some tips for working with them, you’ve got to have other flowers in muted and complimentary tones. Try tall dark stemmed sedums like “Night embers” or “Matrona”, chocolate lace flower, or caramel cherry phlox, rudbeckia Sahara, silene Blushing lanterns, Hot Biscuits or Autumn Touch amaranth, Linen zinnias or dahlias in muted earthy tones. While beautiful they just don’t always play nice with other brighter cut flowers.
Roseanne Brown 3
Roseanne Brown has medium sized flowers with sturdy thick petals that are great candidates for reflexing. The people that love this flower really love this flower!
Roseanne Terracotta 3
Roseanne Terracotta is a fuller, more ruffled bloom than Roseanne Brown. It has gorgeous shades of apricot, with hits of mustard and chartreuse. In the right hands this can be really stunning in arrangements. In the wrong hands it reminds me of baby poo.
I would love to hear your thoughts if you’ve grown or arranged with these varieties!