My Tomato Soup and More

Here's one picture of Tomato Soup's first flower. It does look different in photos depending on the sun.

Here's another photo from a different angle...You can see my new Tiki Torch in the background with its pretty, but small flowers. I'm praying for this one!

When the sun is strong, Tomato Soup photographs more orange. However, the two photos above do give a good indication of the coloring. Here's one in the sun...

Here's a comparison of my bloom vs. Terra Nova's image from their website. As you can see, the blooms aren't uniform and perfect like the blooms on their site. However, the color is nice and the petals aren't quilled. I would say the photo for this one does give you a pretty fair representation of what you are getting, despite the imperfect bloom form in mine.

I am very impressed with Tomato Soup. I have had some bad luck with several of the new cultivars, but this one seems to be special. The next test is its winter hardiness, but I have a good feeling about this one. It just seems to be a very vigorous plant with strong roots...only time will tell.

Here is a Rudbeckia I planted from seeds. I LOVE this one!

Here is my Rudbeckia "Cherry Brandy." This is the ugliest Rudbeckia I have ever seen. I'm writing to Thompson & Morgan for a refund. These are a disaster! Mine look like Jon's!

I am liking the TS. If everyone has good luck with them getting through the winter I could be talked into getting some. LOL

Your Tomato Soup Echie is gorgeous! I'm jealous, as I don't have that one yet.

Please consider posting your photos to the PlantFile entry. It's naked of photos still. ^_^ http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/180600/

I don't think your Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' is aweful looking at all. That entry could benefit from your photo also. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/180421/

Okay, I'm off of my photo plea now. :)

Joan - I uploaded my photos. I'll take more when more blooms open. This plant was the surprise of the year for me. It's the toughest plant of all the new orange, red, or yellow Echies that I've tried so far.

Thanks! I'll go release them to the entries. They are much appreciated and very helpful.

Nice "Tomato Soup" and Rudbeckia maniac. I also am digging "Tomato Soup". It's a unique red color that's kind of hard to describe. You will notice the color fades slightly in the next few days, but it's still attractive and the plant seems to be a good grower and has good resistance.

I don't know what to think about this Tomato Soup. The first bloom was pretty, but all subsequent blooms are small and not symmetrical. The first bloom has faded to a reddish pink color. They don't keep the nice color long at all.

I know what you mean about the bloom sizes and the coloration. I was thinking about that yesterday and wondering if I like Tomato Soup or Sundown better. My Sundown has been the best bloomer of any of the Echinacea I have, but its blooms sizes also vary quite a bit. Just give it some time, that's all. I think its unrealistic for us to expect every bloom on a plant to be uniform in size and color. We, as people, are not all exactly the same.

Jon - I think some of these new Rudbeckias are much prettier and you can get a packet of seeds and have all you want. I'm starting to think that they are a much better plant. They also have many large blooms. The second blooms seem to be about as large as the first.

I agree there are some very nice new Rudbeckias out there. It remains to be seen on how many of them will come back next year. There seems to be quite a bit of conflicting information about this issue out there. Rudbeckias have been very difficult from me to grow down here in Zone 10. Only about half that I planted from seed last fall are still doing ok. The demise has always been when they are larger sized plants. We will get a lot of rain in a short period and quite a few just suddenly died within 3 or 4 days.

Here's my "Tomato Soup" this morning.

Here is my Indian Summer Rudbeckia I started from seed this spring. Just starting to bloom, I have about 50 of these! My fave! They are huge and just gorgeous!

Nice. Some of them are surprisingly huge. I couldn't believe how large the blooms are on Rudbeckia "Irish Spring". Those things are huge.

I think I'm going to replace my Echinacea "Mac n Cheese" with that! Thanks for that photo. I might have to change my name to Rudbeckiamaniac! LOL. They do perform better than the new Echinaceas. They are cheaper and so on and on.

AND they dont get yellow aster disease!!! Knock on wood! I've tossed out about 40+ coneflower plants the past 2 years! And they were my favorite!

NDFarmgirl - They can catch Aster Yellows, unfortunately. These are in the same plant family (Asteraceae) as Echinacea. My friend loves Rudbeckias. Her "Irish Eyes" had a really bad case of aster yellows last year. She had to rip it up.

However, the good thing is you can simply order a 2 dollar packet of seeds rather than a 10-20 dollar plug of a new Echinacea!

They definitely get yellows... last year i was at my father's large garden and he has brown eyed susans everywhere.. and rudbekia. There was a huge patch that was only blooming green distorted flowers!

I told him to get rid of them.. but he only cut them to the ground... and of course it is back this year..

wahhhhhhhh! :(