Burpee coneflowers

I thought this was interesting when I opened my new catalog - Burpee is offering unnamed coneflowers in multiple colors at an excellent price - $18.99 for six plants. The pictures looks like a good variety of colors: white, pink, purple and orange. I suppose that they are similar to the more expensive ones that we are purchasing, but maybe Burpee doesn't have to pay the originator a "branding fee", so they can offer them for much less.

It may be a good option if you want to increase your variety, and are waiting for Fairy's coneflowers to arrive in the spring.

http://www.burpee.com/product/id/111422.do?KickerID=100528&KICKER

Are all of these colors as hardy as the original purple coneflower?

no, not all of the new varieties are as hardy as the original purple coneflowers.

i'd be curious to find out what folks actually end up getting when they purchase this mix.
maybe burpee lost tags on some of their trays and this is a way to move the no-tag plants?

pennefeather, did you order this mix?

jelitto has the seeds in their 2009 catalog. there's a picture in their print catalog but not on their website.

ECHINACEA species Hybr. `Coneflower Mix` (RUDBECKIA) [Paradiso]

honey-bee food plants; flowers or seedcapsules for cutting;
Juni-Oktober, Z3-Z8, 120 cm;
white, yellow, pale pink to red-purple blossoms with hanging horizontal flower petals, rich mixture of species and their hybrids, narrow to broad leaved, variable

these are the newbies im wanting for 09!
Echinacea
'Flame Thrower'
Echinacea
'Tangerine Dream'
Heuchera
'Berry Smoothie'
Heuchera
'Electra'
Heuchera
'Fire Chief'
Heuchera
'Lime Marmalade'
Heucherella
'Sweet Tea'

we need another TNN co-op!!!!!!!!!

3Gardeners, No, I didn't order this. I have quite a few coneflowers that I started from seed as well as some that I bought over the years, plus I'm getting a slew of them in Fairy's coop. I also just bought more seeds to start even more since I have decided to add some entirely new beds this spring.

Last week I saw a similiar offer in a Michigan bulb company catalog. Their rating is pretty poor with watchdog.

http://michiganbulb.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_04937_A_Coneflower+Mix+Super+Bag_E_

I went nuts buying the seeds as many places had them on sale very reasonable: I got 50 white swan enchinacea seeds from RH Shumways and 30 ruby star enchinacea seeds from Jungs. Then I picked up a catalogue from Thompson and Morgan and ordered the Echinacea Lustre Hybrids from Holland - 25 seeds, the Enchinacea Pink Parasol - 35 seeds and the Enchinacea Pupurea Magnus -30 seeds, I should have stopped there but couldn't and got from Parks seeds: Coneflower Paradoxa Yellow - 50 seeds, Coneflower Magnus - 50 seeds, and some more coneflower white swans - 50 seeds.

I was thinking about putting them in a raised flower bed under a tree where they would get some shade and intersperse them with crazy daisies and shasta daisy white knights and shasta daisy dwarf snow ladies. Maybe mixing in some Brachycome Blue stars.

When would I start these seeds indoors? And what in particular do I need to know about them when planting them?
joy112854

Look at the deformed petals in those blooms. I bet anything this is just those awful Big Sky Coneflowers being sold under a different name. I wasted a lot of money growing those. They had the awful, deformed petals.

Hi. Judging by your name, I'm going to assume you know a lot about echinaceas. I love the shape of the bloom of echinaceas and daisys and flowers of that form. Last year I added to my garden more purple coneflower and some of the Big Sky series, Sunrise and Sundown. They seems fine enough, not a whole lot of growth, but OK. I thought it was because I really didn't fertilize, just some compost. (Health problems kept me out of the sun.) I live in Atlanta GA and we had a VERY bad drought year following a 10 year drought slide. And I'd love to have some of the new Green Envy, I think it's called.

Because I'm just a novice with the echinacea and purchase for the look and the color, I've never noticed a petal problem. Or any problems that I should be on the lookout for with the Big Sky flowers. I was wondering if you would please educate me as much as you can and are willing to about these plants.

I'd really love to have more in my gardens. And I've even heard that some people have them as cutting flowers, whereas I've never been able to do that because for me Echinacea, as well as Monarda, have never put out more than the initial bloom. If I cut, that's it. After that, I have bare plants. So I leave mine alone and savor those flowers 'til they're dead stalks in the winter!

I may put a modified version of this post on it's own thread to see if I can get more responces to my request for tips for getting more blooms.

I appreciate any help you can give me, esp. on your experiences with the Big Sky series. Aren't they out of Georgia?

how can u not love them! ;)

Here's what I mean...These are prone to all kinds of deformities in their petals. They also aren't as winter hardy as the other varieties. The picture on the right is what they show on the websites. The one on the left is what I received as "Sunrise." Many people had the same problems.

The other problem with the Big Sky Series is the blooms fade so rapidly. The orange or yellow blooms don't stay that color long. They fade to these ugly pastel shades of pinkish orange and the yellow fades to almost white so quickly.

Tiki Torch has better color, but I'll reserve judgment until it returns this spring.

Wow. That is pretty crappy looking. I'll definitly be on the lookout for poor blooms before I purchase anymore of the Big Sky series. I sure hope mine come back this year. I guess that will be the first hurdle to cross.

Any suggestions on encouraging rebloom if I cut some flowers for indoor enjoyment, or is that just a myth?

like this one-not sure what one this is harvest moon or.....

I have to agree with Echinaceamaniac--the Big Sky series was a complete disappointment for me. Rarely did they survive a winter and the blooms just did not have the color intensity and form I'd hoped for, even during ideal weather. Tried different ones several years in a row--just not impressive as advertised.

notmartha, yours is definitely Harvest Moon. I can tell by the color. You can also spot the way the petals aren't uniform around the cone. I grew Harvest Moon for 2 years. The first year they were pretty and the next the few that returned were half the size from the previous year. I don't grow this cultivar anymore.

I know somewhere in a thread we've also discussed the fact that they aren't a "true" perennial i.e. they are pretty short-lived. Wondering what everyone's experience is on this? Who's got the oldest Echinacea?

Kind'ave a good thing to know if anyone is considering spending big bucks on the Echinacea flavor-of-the-month each year. Otherwise, if you don't care about the form, Burpee's may be a good deal. Check out their ratings, though. Not too complimentary on the plant side. Ok for seeds, it seems.

Yotedog, I think that someone else was right in saying that these are probably the ones that either lost their labels or are not perfect. Since seeing the Burpee catalog, I have seen the same offer in several other seed/plant catalogues. I think that they just want to sell their excess.

Frankly, it seems like a good deal to me, unless you want a particular coneflower. I'm still waiting for Fairy's spring coop, plus, I already started pink parasol, baby swan, purple coneflowers, and swan from seed.

Also listed in Van Bourgendian--though they are selling "roots," not plants. Not sure of the price difference, but if economy is the main concern, it might be cheaper to go this route, FYI.

Be careful ordering roots. Your percentage of plants that grow will probably be low. I'd also check the ratings of Van Bourgendian on the Garden Watch Dog. I've had bad luck with that company. They are notorious for sending the wrong plants and/or bare root plants that won't grow.

I love these flowers! I've run out of room & of course now see the orange/red ones, as I just planted the purple ones!!! If I do containers I may try them in a few!

I grew from seed every single one I could find last year they are not up yet but hoping most made the winter

hoping to add to them this year since I just love them since the blooming time for them is so long from july to frost works for me

I'd like to see some responses to 3gardners' question about repeat blooming, too. I've grown them for years and have mostly allowed the flowers to go to seed. When I've cut them I didn't have repeat blooming. Can anybody weigh in on this and give us some info?

I picked up to bags of the mix echies last year and they are all coming up dont know what colors I will get but I am sure I will just love them whatever they are

I also picked up a box of mixed at Costco this spring. They are doing well, too, and I am anxious to see what they look like. I am hoping some will be of the newer varieties, but you never know.

twbmom...as far as reblooming goes, I have had some luck with that on some varieties (mainly the purpacea and Magnus), but the later blooms are never as big or showy as the first ones. Because of that, I tend to plant other things with the echies and let the later bloomers take over. I like leaving my seedhead for the goldfinches. The birds are pretty good at planting new flowers in the beds as well. More to share, I guess and the birds are great entertainment:)

Thanks for responding. I've never known if I should try for a second flush of flowers or not. :-)

I always dead head all my perennials at first so they bloom longer especially gaillardia they will keep blooming till the show but without deadheading they just go to seed thinking the job is done and remeber to keep fertilizing your perennials if you want more blooms dont stop when they start blooming

Scicciarella I am saving the seeds from my Gaillardia so will they be able to be planted next year?? I love the blooms & never having one survived this long I am hoping to have some for next year.

Cindylove, I harvest my gallardia seeds every year and start them indooors for the following year. Totally successful. Have never tried just reseeding but this is only starting my third year of doing them.

gaillardia is suppose to be a perennials but in some areas they are byannuals they dont survive past the second year unless they are cut back almost to the ground

I didn't know about cutting them back, thanks. I think I am going to try harvesting the seeds as well. I don't do well with seeds I am finding. But I will give it a shot anyway. I don't think I am patient enough.

planting seeds is a waiting game, that is very stressing I find that I look at the trays many times per day just to make sure they are damp enough and to see what is coming up

Gaillardia seeds are not too difficult to grow. I've done them many times. Place those funky looking seeds on the surface of a seed starting mix. Since they require light to germinate sprinkle them with a small amount of vermiculite just to hold the seeds in place. Bottom water the seeds the first time and then give them a light mist of water every couple of days. I actually start the seeds inside the house under a low hanging kitchen light and, believe it or not, it works just fine. There's no wind in the house so the seeds won't blow away from the surface. They usually germinate in about 7 days. About 5-7 days after germination I'll move them outside into an area with just a couple of hours on sun and then gradually increase the sun over the next 2-3 weeks. When they are about 2-3 inches tall then I'll repot them into a 4 inch container. They do grow fast once established and their roots quickly outgrow the containers they are in.
Here is a photo from today of a brand new Gaillardia that can be grown from seed named "Gaillardia Mesa Yellow". It is a 2009 All American Selections New Plant Winner and should be released for seed purchase later this year...I would think. It was on my "wish list" and I was lucky enough to actually find this plant about 6-8 weeks ago at a local nursery. It's been doing great, is staying upright and is holding up quite well to our humid summer heat. Nothing wrong with that.

Jon

Jon - That is a beautiful plant! I will be sure and get me some of those seeds. Thanks for posting that.

You're welcome. It doesn't seem to have that "flopping" characteristic of so many gaillardias. At least so far it hasn't.

Jon, thanks for the advice on germinating gaillarda. I've been hit and miss with them, but am going to try again in the house...like I really have room for this, lol! Mesa Yellow is a beauty..and I love yellow..must try this one.
Bev

Hope it works out Bev. I know starting seeds in the house under a regular light sounds very unconventional, but it's worked out quite well for me. I just start them in little 2 inch square plastic containers so that they don't take up much room. I use this same process for tall snapdragon and pansy seeds also as they are seeds that you do not cover when planting. Just sprinkle them very lightly with vermiculite to hold them in place a bit. Pansy and snapdragon seeds germinate even better for me if I refrigerate them, for at least a week, prior to planting. All of these seeds usually germinate in about 7 days.
Jon

Good to know. I didn't have much luck with the annual snaps, either. Both of them were ws. We had quite a wet winter and I'd thought that maybe the seeds were displaced by some of the really hard rains. Funny thing is that I had great germination with gaillarda 'Burgandy' winter before last-the only one that ever did well for me... Of course they finally bloomed this year, and look like conventional tall gaillarda...not a burgandy one in the bunch. Still pretty, but not the right seeds. Pretty disappointing especially since these were commercially purchased.
I have pansies that are currently setting seed. Do these come true? I see harvesting in my plans for the afternoon.

I'm not very happy when things are mislabeled also. The reason I start them inside is to eliminate the issues of seeds being moved by rain and/or wind. Most times when I'm looking for additional information on how to sew various types of flower seed I'll look up the flower variety on Thompson & Morgans website. They are one of the few online retailers that list the seed sewing directions online for each various flower. The general rule is if it says "needs light for germination" then its a seed you do not cover. I grow my own snapdragons because I much prefer the tall cutting varieties and it's practically impossible to buy the taller varieties as plants down here. It's always the shorter border varieties available for purchase. The best performing taller variety for me has been the "Rocket Series" of snapdragons. I'm really not sure if pansy seeds come true from seed. I would think they do, but maybe someone else knows for sure.

Here's a photo of some of the Rocket Series snaps I grew from seed. This is "Rocket Bronze" and "Rocket Pink"