My Tennessee Coneflower hybrid is doing great! It has a greener cone than the others I've grown. It also has prettier petals and color.
Various Coneflowers Blooming Now
Here's a brightly colored coneflower I grew from seeds last year. The cone is very bright!
Here's a hybrid with genetics all over the place! It has the darker center of Pallida and Paradoxa as well as the drooping petals. It has a dark purple color towards the cone. The cone is very black around the base. The petals fade from almost red to an intense pink. This is my sister's favorite, but not mine. LOL.
Paradoxa's show will soon be over :(
My sole-surviving Tiki Torch. This second year plant looks terrible. It has exactly two bloom stalks. The blooms are nowhere near the size stated on Terra Nova's site. They are about 2 inches across. The orange color is nice, but there's so little of it that it's a worthless cultivar...Petals are uneven and not uniform. Cone is small and not like the large cone on Terra Nova's site. Something must be wrong in their labs.
This message was edited Jun 8, 2009 11:27 AM
Ooooo...I really like that second one!
echinaceamaniac, I really love the third one with the drooping petals. Looks like the coneflowers I used to see along country roads in TX.
twbmom,
Thanks. It does look old-fashioned. It's darker than the picture. I can't take a good photo of it. It's the darkest bloom I have. After Midnight is lighter than it is.
I do like the way the cone is black at the bottom. I think it's fun trying to have a wide variety of bloom types. I don't like all mine to be the same form. Some people prefer the petals that don't droop, but I think they have a certain appeal to them.
Love the photos. Very nice. Looks like the summer show has begun.
I love the variety, too. I'm not the kind of gardener who plants big sweeps of the same thing, and this year it's all about how many different coneflowers I can plant. I have to watch myself or I'll just have one of this and one of that. It's all about fun for me. I try not to take myself to seriously and you can tell it by looking at my garden. I guess lots of gardners would shake their heads....
More pretty blooms. I really like that second bright pink one. All these beautiful blooms make it hard to wait for mine to bloom. At least all of us up north can get a preview of coming attractions.
I have my own yellow hybrid Echinacea! When the bloom opens all the way I'll post a pic!
Tomato Soup - looks pretty good
It does look very nice. A real bright red one. REAL bright.
I was surprised, it didn't look nearly that read when opening.