Here are some blooms in the new Echinacea bed photographed today. Locating these in a shadier location makes them bloom longer here. I'm so glad I moved them this Spring!
Here is Echinacea "Tiki Torch." I like the color a lot but the bloom doesn't look like the bloom in Terra Nova's pictures. The cones are much smaller, etc.
Here is a hybrid between Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea tennesseensis. I like the way these have a pattern in the petals. These have blooms that last longer than any Echinacea I've ever grown.
Here's one of my "Pink Poodles" which turned out to be a souped-up "Double Decker." I'm keeping it because my "Double Deckers" were always "Single Deckers." LOL.
This message was edited Aug 10, 2009 1:24 AM
This is a hybrid Echinacea I discovered 2 years ago. It looks like a very light pink Echinacea with a big cone. The cone keeps a green tint to it. The thing that makes it special is it reblooms better than the other plants. It will keep blooming until frost with no deadheading. I have left all the seed heads on so you could see how strong this plant is. The gold finches have been after the seeds. Notice the fresh blooms are still big and not smaller like other Echinaceas. This plant is amazing. I am going to divide it this fall because I want more of them since it has tons of larger blooms.
This message was edited Aug 10, 2009 1:03 AM
Here is a fresh "Pink Poodle" bloom from today. This one really looks like it's supposed to look. Thanks to Terra Nova for screwing up the tissue culture process and giving me a good "Double Decker" to go with it. LOL.
Here's a fresh "Meringue" bloom. I love the way these look when they first open, but when they are on the plant for a while they get so ugly. They take on more and more green tones. I wish they could make one that keeps the color better.
Here's another Echinacea purpurea x Echinacea tennesseensis hybrid. You can see the wavy pattern/texture of the petals. The older the blooms get the more it shows up. Lately, I prefer these because the blooms last so long. They look like this for weeks.
Here's another hybrid, same as the last one, but the blooms are different. The cone is darker and taller. The petals are also shorter and wider with blunt ends without points. It's so fascinating how many possibilities there are with these plants!
Here's another hybrid of a hybrid. LOL. I really like the way the cone has the red tips in it. The petals are also darker towards the center. I enjoy growing these freaks of nature!
I leave you with a bloom from "Green Envy" also known as "Mr. Yuck." The cones are green in the middle and ratty looking. The petals barely have any green. Maybe it'll be better next year, but I don't think they like it below Zone 6. I'm going to cut the bloom stalks off of this one because it annoys me when I see it!
Ahhh, welcome to the dark side of ech gardening, LOL! You know I am the part sun queen b/c that's just about all I have in my yard. Your blooms look great, love all the work that you do on hybrids. It is always interesting to know what you are up to! :)
Nice pics of some of your babies Em. I just deadheaded a PDD with a greening cone like that Em. My GE is still holding the color after about 10 days. Maybe the color is not quite so bright but it still is nice except for the two munched petals. Darn it.
Nice photos Clint. I was hoping someone would post a bunch of photos from around their yard...and you did. Thanks
Thanks. I can almost identify certain Echinaceas by their leaves.
I can look at my seedlings and tell which ones are most likely to be doubles. Seriously. LOL.
Jon - Do your Green Envy cones look like this? It's starting to look horrible!
I can understand the variety recognition on some of them just based on the foliage. I don't know how you can tell whether a seedling is going to be a double. Maybe you can do psychic plant readings!!!LOL I didn't have any summer Green Envy blooms like that one. Mine were just regular cones with solid pink petals. I just cut the last couple of blooms of mine before they went to seed. Some of my coneflowers return with a second flush of blooms in the fall if I do things this way. Most of mine are in wind down mode right now, with a few exceptions. All three Green Jewels are blooming heavily right now. A new Mac N Cheese plug has grown up now and is just starting to bloom. Harvest Moon looks like its just about to begin a second round of heavy blooms. Hope is forming lots of new buds so it may begin blooming well again in the next couple of weeks. Tangerine Dream is starting to form buds. At least it's looking like the bloom season will go on for awhile longer.
Jon
Here is a picture of my first Green Envy bloom (minus 1 petal). It is not as Green as I expected . At least the center of the cone is green. It's not bad looking really, still a nice coneflower, just a pink one. I don't have high heat and humidity over here on the west coast so I haven't noticed that curled & missing petal issue.
Jon, I was wondering how 'Green' your Green Jewels are? The file photo on Daves looks quite green and a nice turned up petal habit. What do yours look like when they first open vs. aging? Do they start to turn down later? Would you consider it to be the best 'Green' variety available? Did you grow yours from seed or buy plants? Any sources you'd recommend?
Thanks, Diana
I'm loving my three Green Jewels right now, but the blooms are not very very green anymore. In the heat they are now opening up a very light green and they darken somewhat over the next week or so. The blooms are quite large in size and the petals always remain horizontal. It's the only green one out there so I guess it's the best by default! LOL It's a hybrid, so it can't be grown from seed. I really feel you have better results obtaining this variety as a larger sized plant. The first one I had last year was purchased as a small plant and refused to grow much or bloom much last year and didn't do much this year so I pulled it out. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post a new subject in the forum. All three that are growing and blooming very well were purchased from Garden Crossings. I just noticed they must now be sold out of Green Jewels for the season.
Duh, I can't believe I forgot about the green Coconut Lime Echie. If you want very very green that's the one to go with.
Nice pictures here:)) I really like all the possibilities you are coming up with, Clint. Do you cross these intentionally or do you let nature take its course and grow out whatever seeds? I'm thinking that I must have mine too far apart to get such interesting crosses, maybe?
I have discovered that you can plant these in arrangements that give you good crosses. If I see two plants that I'd like to cross, I just plant them right beside each other. Sometimes I leave a certain variety in a pot so I can easily move it around. LOL. It works. I have tried collecting the pollen and crossing them that way, but it's much easier to plant them beside each other. You can usually tell which plant was involved in the hybrid. I learned about doing it this way when I was reading about a hybridizer in Holland. He said he arranges his plants close together and lets the bees pollinate them.
It's all just for fun. I mainly did this to the Tennessee coneflower because I liked the blooms but wanted a larger plant with more impact. It's really neat the way these hybrids bloom in bundles. Instead of one bloom per stem like some other Echinaceas, they look more like a bouquet.
I'm planning to do some more of this next year. I will be working with White Echinaceas and trying to come up with one that I like. I just don't like most of the ones on the market and think I have a good idea. We shall see. LOL.
Excellent idea, Clint! How easy is that...create the right environment by using certain plants with chosen qualities, and let mother nature do her thing.
You've gotten some really nice results...I'd love to see you come up with some nice white ones.
Thanks for sharing your method:)
Mac 'N Cheese is beginning to bloom. Plant looks really good. Pink Poodle is starting but will have to wait a bit for petals and color to show to see how it performs. It also looks good, stout and beautiful as it is.
Coconut Lime - Third year
Close up of Coconut Lime blooms
Tiki Torch - Second year
Tomato Soup
Meringue
Thanks for sharing your photos! I do like Meringue. It looks better in real life to me. I can't capture the way it looks with a camera. Your picture looks closer to the actual color.
The Meringue is a bit on the short side and didn't know if it was going to do anything. But it beefed up somewhat and bloomed, so we'll see how things go for it through the winter and into next spring. As for the pic itself...didn't do any touch ups to it. The camera I have takes excellent pics and I only have to touch up a photo on occasion. Which I like as I've taken loads of pics this year.
Very yummy pictures, edder...Thanks for sharing:)
Pretty pics and pretty echies. Very nice.
beautiful pictures edder.
meringue is listed as mature height 16 to 18 inches = short.
Meringue is short, but I like it that way. It makes the blooms look even larger. I have a bloom on one of them right now that is huge.
We can definitely add that one to the list of winners.
