Belle of Barmera

The name points to Barmera in South Australia, and claims of an Australian heirloom from the 1950s follow this variety around, but the ADS-style record Idlewild prints says introduced by Bob Simon in 1987. Whatever the true origin, the present is well documented. One farm reports it sells out every week at the farmstand, and Longfield, Eden Brothers, and Triple Wren have all run back-in-stock queues for it. A coral sunset the size of a dinner plate does that. It is the variety customers point at across a market table, and tuber demand keeps outrunning the dig.

This is a true giant, ADS class AA informal decorative with blooms over 10 inches, on plants that hit 4.5 feet in Idlewild Blooms' field. Floret calls the plants towering and loaded with flowers on long, strong stems, with about five days of vase life, unusually generous output for a dinnerplate. Stake it like you mean it; a single bloom after rain can snap an unsupported lateral. Disbud hard if you want maximum size, or let side buds run for slightly smaller, more usable event stems. Pinch at 12 inches and expect the show to start 80 to 100 days later. Penhill Watermelon offers a similar watercolor giant with easier supply, and American Dawn gives the sunset palette on a no-stake plant a third the height.