Echinaceas!!

I do not know why I love these perennials so much. As I was gardening today, I decided to count the number of different varieties I have...16 at least. Is it because they are so easy, or their beauty, variety, or how they draw in the birds and butterflies? I am not sure why they seem to be one of my favorite perennials. I have included a few pictures of the varieties that are already blooming in my gardens.

My favorite this week must be Razzmatazz. I have had it for 3 years now and it knows no bounds. It is taller than expected, yet it never falls over. It blooms from now until frost. It is just gorgeous. It never invades other plants space. Which is your favorite?

Sunrise in its first full season.

Pixie Meadowbrite...only 12 inches tall. What a great front of the garden plant.

This message was edited Jun 28, 2006 12:14 PM

Why wouldn't you love them. They have a tremendously long bloom period. You can keep them any height & they are vigorous. They go with everything &these new hot varieties are fun!

I do have a question about these new varieties tho... are you snipping the seed heads or letting them go to seed?
This is our 1st year with the new varieties & I am assuming they will revert? Even if they do, the plant has easily doubled in the past month

I have bought many new varieties over the past 5 years and always leave the seed heads for the birds and for garden interest in the winter. I clean them up the next year in early spring. I have never had a problem. Some of the old varieties have been known to send their offspring to a new garden location, but I just dig them up and share with friends.

I just taght myself how to create a collage of my photos. I thought I would try a coneflower collage.

They are wonderful plants. Yours are gorgeous. 16 varieties - wow. I have Magnus which isn't in flower yet but they are great for late summer colour when alot of other plants are finished. Great photos! Do you have Arts Pride - a difficult colour to combine well but it's a beauty.

excellent collage... It will really help with the upload time. Thanks for the re seeding info.

Beautiful photos! I love the 'Big Sky' Series ones and the other "new" varieties. :)

We love them down here too--our bloom time is from mid-May thru July, usually (in other words they are still blooming). I have magnus, white swan, sunrise, primadonna rose, and rubenstern. Lost a lot of Magnus over the winter...maybe not cold enough this winter. Here's sunrise...

I only have 4 varieties .. the original one (forget the name), Vintage wine , Big Sky and just bought 2 plants of Razmatazz last September .... I simple stalk of Razmatzz in September is now a clump of 5 stalks with multi blooms (the haven't opened yet) .. I can't wait to see it in bloom

R,
They are nice plants, I have a few varieties.
Your collage is nice, Razz was surprisingly hardy and Pixie is really a nice compact plant.

Debbie - I found primadonna white when I wasn't even looking for it today :)

gorgeous flowers!

Rsquared, where did you get Razzmatazz from? Was it seed or plant? Does it attracts butterflies? thank you!

rsquared, I really like your collage. Neat! I lost my Razzmatazz over the winter. Guess I'll have to try again. I have Ruby Giant. Full of buds. should be blooming any day. there are so many new varieties, it's hard to resist. yours all look great.

gram

One of my primadonna rose's turns out to be white--hybridizer goof up maybe?
Debbie

Gramp's - Ruby Giant is a star you'll love it.

Razz is fairly common around here for me or through catalogs if you need to. Mine is a lot larger in it's second year this year.

Debbie - maybe you have been looking at that Houston sun too much!

Southern Ohio - I deadhead until later in the summer and then leave some on for the winter. I don't believe these should revert, the seeds are a big question mark and until I see some bear true I would be sceptical.

This was Sundown - still no perfect single flower to photo yet

Looks perfect to me. I'll post you a pic of the 'pathetic' first year bloom but its clearly a white one with a primadonna rose tag. Nursery is good; but some one could have switched a tag.

I think I'm going to stick with just one sunrise...if this makes it thru the winter; I'll get more. I think some of them like cold winters....lol Would like to get one sunset at a reasonable price. I'm not mail-ordering anything as hot as it is here now. Got 2 pink primadonna roses and 3 rubensterns to test over winter; and one ufo white. Rubinstern I think is ruby giant now, (another name) right?

Sunrise has perfect flowers to me. I certainly can't argue with your cautiousness about adding new varieties.

Ruby Giant is listed as a variety of Rubinstern - so you are close. I'll tell you some of the new varieties are tall as Ruby Giant has buds and is over 3' already for me.
Fragrant Angel is the white version of Ruby Giant.

Here is one of mine they are just starting to bloom her in NC.

For those of you with Rubinstern, how tall is it? I put in 3 last year. Expected them to stay in the 30" to 36" range. Right now they are all of 48" to 54" tall and very strong and upright. There are a few fully open blooms on them to date. Rubenstern is beautiful, but these 3 have totally over done it where I put them. If this is their usual habit, I'm gonna have to relocate them.

Spider07-- I bought my Razz from a local nursery 3 years ago. I had to have even though it was not yet widely released. I paid too much for it...the most I have ever paid for a perennial, but not too much as it is fabulous. Razz is fairly easy to find now and much more reasonably priced.

Galanthophile--I do have Arts Pride. It is not in bloom yet, but I have it placed behind several Stella de Oros and they look great together.

Ruby Giant is another reliable one for me. I do not have Vintage Wine...yet. My Fragrant Angel and White Swan are about to pop open too

Bigcityal--my Sunset is opening, but it looks as if many of the flowers will not be as"perfect" as the other varieties, ie missing pedals.

I am excited to see the coloring of my new Twilight that has yet to open. My Sparklers are a little small still. I hope they make it; the variegated leaves are a nice garden contrast.

Gazania_in_pa-- I have found this to be true for all of my newer echinaceas that are supposed to be 30-36''. Mine are all taller. The varieties that are shorter seem to hold to the recommended heights, but not the taller ones. My Razz is 42 - 48" tall already. Sunrise is 40". I have moved mine back farther in my gardens, but I tend to move things around until every plant can be seen.

Thanks rsquared. With all the rain and warm nights we have had, it seems everything in my gardens are taller and bushier than usual.The E. White Swan and E. Rocky Top are a good foot taller than last year which was their first year also, so I am not sure what is normal. Magnus which I have had for about 8 years is also a little more robust than usual. The rain has been benefical, but it can stop now!

My doppelgangers are just about to pink up. Last year only a couple turned double. I can't wait to see them this year! :)

winging-- The doppels are very unique. Mine is not close yet. I see that I already have more buds than last year. I am looking forward to their blooming. When your bloom, please post a picture, if you get a chance.

Rose

My sunrise is no where near 40" and neither is my rubenstern--but in our heat--I'm happy they are alive. Actually its been a good summer so far--high seldom above 90 and we've had good rains down here.

Here's a sneaky sneaky preview of Fatal Attraction.
I had Vintage Wine a few years ago that died - they released it with a viral infection - so I wasn't buying that one again. This color absolutely glows.

I have Fatal Attraction arriving this week via mail order...actually 3 of them. I am really looking forward to them now that I see yours.

What is the deal with the Vintage Wine?

Here's the deal - I bought one that was a leftover I believe
http://www.plantspotters.com/renderer.do/menuId/55153/clearState/true/sf/55173/returnPage/55173/itemId/9672/realItemId/9672/pageId/55174/instanceId/55248/pId/8040/

The deal is they are a lot cheaper now that Fatal Attraction is out, basically an improved version.

where can I get the new echinaceas from? I am looking for mail order nurseries.
thank you!

Thanks for the information. I seem to want my echinaceas early in the release cycle and I guessed I lucked out with Vintage Wine, actually not getting as early.

here are a few

http://www.plantdelights.com/
https://www.jungseed.com/jungsite/jungsitebrowse.aspx?category=1699
http://www.burpee.com/jump.jsp?itemID=4798&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C9%2C10%2C2009%2C157&KickerID=564&KICKER

Of course wayside/parks has most of them, but as a last resort I would say.

Al

Spider07-- I buy from a large local nursery here in Upstate NY. I typically order in January for new releases and pay a lot if they get them for me...which they usually do. Many of these "newer" echinaceas have had a wide release now and you should be able to find them at a local nursery for a reasonable price.

Parks mail order did have a sale awhile ago and most echinaceas were $4.95 each, except I know Pixie Meadowbrite was $9.95 for a quart. I ordered some of these as gifts for my gardener friends. I ordered Harvest Moon this spring from them when it was on sale for $4.95 for a 3" pot and they arrived in great shape and are already 15" tall with buds on them.

Wayside usually has all of these but at a higher price and in my experience a smaller plant. They also tend to oversell and can not deliver newer releases.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

I'm in the planning stages of expanding my nursery business on ebay and creating a store of just Echinaceas. I've got a list of about 30 so far.. do you all have any ideas or varieties that I've missed?
-Magnus
-Purpurea
-Rubinstern
-White Swan
-Pallida Pale Purple
-Rocky Top
-Primadonna white
-Primadonna rose
-Doubledecker
-Bravado
-Paradoxa
-Mango Meadowbright
-Orange Meadowbright
-Ruby Star
-Ruby Giant
-Hope
-Fragrant Angel
-Fancy Frills
-Bright Star
-Little Giant
-Kim's Knee High
-Kim's Mophead
-Twilight
-Sunset
-Sundown
-Sunrise
-Harvest Moon
-Pixie Meadowbright
-Sparkler
-Razzmatazz
-Jade

Wish me luck and if you have any suggestions post or Dmail me!

That is quite a few that's for sure - best of luck.

I did see a new listing for Summer Sky in plantfiles. I am also waiting for Green Envy within a year.

You always wonder how far that market will go, 5 years ago having White Swan was a big deal :)

Al

Still is here Al--since its the only one that survived my 'lack of winter' this year.

Purely pitiful, now I'm back up to 4. I'll just start seeds of tenneeseensis, magnus, and paradoxa this fall. ;)

jdcoffman-- Good Luck! Did I miss Fatal Attraction in your list?

Fatal attraction must not have copied over but I'll have it. I'm still trying to source Green Envy and Mars.

Wasn't Mars a Terra Nova?

Here's Green Envy for everyone else again
http://www.prideofplaceplants.com/plant-introductions/echinacea_green_envy.html

Bigcityal, do you know where i can get seeds of Echinacea tennessensis?

Yes Mars was indeed a terra nova, gosh can't believe I missed that!