Over here in Maryland, my "Sunrise" that I got in April 2006 is doing very well. It is HUGE, covered with flowerbuds, and started blooming at about the end of May. It is about a month ahead of its cousin purple coneflower "Magnus" and is towering over it right now. "Magnus" was set back a bit from some annoying little black sap-sucking bugs that distorted some of the leaves, but it is growing past that now after I killed the bugs with insecticidal soap. So, I am quite happy with "Sunrise."

My Mac 'n Cheese is a plug size after its first winter. 'Tomato soup' is doing great - looks like a blooming size plant already. It was purchased with Mac 'n Cheese last year (both were plugs). 'Hot Lava' survived. Still tiny. 'Pink Poodle' bloomed for me first year after planting. Overwinted OK. 'Tiki Torch' is finally growing (two years in the garden, never bloomed). Same thing with 'Merinque' and 'Coral Reef'. 'Ruby Star' and 'Coconut Lime' are doing great. No surprise here: they both were gallon size plants at the planting time. 'Hot Papaya', 'Tangerine Dream' did not survive. I just ordered one more 'Hot Papaya'. Will give it one more try.

I've done some more homework on the Big Sky echs. Went to a local plant farm near here that I go to about every other year. They have the healthiest, best plants I have ever seen. The reason I only go every other year is because it is over an hour away and they have so many thousands of perennials that I pack my car to the hilt and can't afford to eat for a week! LOL! This farm is retail and wholesale. When I worked as a perennial buyer for an independent retailer, we bought 95% of our perennials from them because of the variety they carried and the quality of the stock. They grow all of their own. So, first thing, I head for the echinaceas. Thousands of them in both quarts and gallons. At least 5 blooms on the quarts and a dozen on the gallons. And tons of Big Skys - Sunrise, Sundown, Twilight and Harvest Moon. I was determined to look at every bloom. In fact, the back of my neck is burnt to a crisp from spending close to two hours looking down at every single bloom! Not a single petal out of place. No quills either. And colors looking exactly like the tags. Even the older blooms were very bright. Harvest Moon had blooms as big as my fist. So I asked an employee, what gives? Why are there so many complaints and why do yours look so good? He had never heard of a problem and has never had a problem. He said it has to be the stock. He directed me to the perennial bed, where there are Big Skys that have been in the ground fo two years and they were just gorgeous. And he said he has a whole garden of them at home and not a single problem. He said the only Big Sky that he has heard of problems with in Sunrise, which he doesn't carry. And of course the old Meadowbrite series. And he quit carrying Razzmatazz because it is very hard to grow in our area. So I'm thinking it has to be the original stock that is the problem? He said there are only 4 or 5 distributers of the original stock and that could be why the problems are nationwide. He did ask me to send pictures because he was very interested in the problem. I might add that I have never bought an ech from him except for Fragrant Angel which is still going strong after 4 years. So I have to confess, I bought one Harvest Moon, just to see how it performs compared to the ones I have with no petals. I also bought some other echs that are not Big Sky series. his stock was so gorgeous. He had After Midnight, Coconut Lime, Fragrant Angel, Green Eyes, Kim's Knee High, Kim's Mophead, Merlot, Pink Double Delight, Prairie Splendor, Purity, ruby Star, Ruby Giant, The King, Virgin, Pixie Meadowbrite, White Swan and Tiki Torch. Not a single bad bloom on any of them. Believe me, I checked each and every one. And I had to take a few more Tiki Torch and Double Delight! I love them! Does anyone have The King? It was not blooming yet so I didn't take the chance. I do believe this grower when he says he doesn't have any problems. He is well known for pulling plants that don't perform. He no longer sells several of the coreopsis because they didn't winter over here. And some signs and catalog descriptions say that even thought the plant is a perennial it does not perform that way here. I will let you all know how my new Harvest Moon does. If it keeps up the way it looks now, I will be over there buying truckloads full!

I enjoy echinacea too. Easy to grow, dependable. I like the taller varieties and have had good luck with Ruby Star, Ruby Giant and not sure what the other tall purple varieties are that I have. I've tried a few of the newer varieties but they were not performers for the year or two they lasted and then never came back. Now I am very careful about reading other gardeners experiences with the new ones before buying them. It's such a waste of money and I get pretty annoyed that they actually sell them for such high prices when they don't perform and act like annuals. I am actually running out of room too. I also have 'Fragrant Angel' which I enjoy but so far it is shorter. I'm going into year 3 with a couple of those, so not sure what their maximum height is. I am looking for 'Fatal Attraction' because it is the variety that Piet Oudolf used in the Chicago Botanical Garden, so I figure it must be a performer. Plus I love the dark stems.