I planted one last autumn. It is RIP. I'm going with another one called Tomato Soup and Macaroni and Cheese. I don't know if Tiki Torch is even worth another shot.

kentstar

I planted three, all in different beds. All three came back over twice as big as last year. I also planted 3 Harvest Moon, 1 Raspberry Tart, 2 Pink Double Delights, 2 Virgin and 1 Coconut Lime. All of them came back except Coconut Lime. Go figure. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason as to what returns and what doesn't on these new ones for me. The Coconut Lime is right between a Harvest Moon and a Tiki Torch.

Mine are all coming back fine including Tiki Torch, we just had the worst winter ever here on Vancouver Island BUT we had good snow coverage off and on, temps dipped to -4F a couple of times. What we didn't have was all the rain we usually get, I think this must be the culprit that gets these guys. Next winter I'm going to come up with something to keep the rain off the crowns, see if this will make a difference. Even Sunrise, Sunset, Harvest Moon and Sundown such as they are the plants themselves are coming back gangbusters.

Annette

We had a bad winter - freeze and thaw over and over again. The only new ones I planted last year were Coconut Lime and Tiki Torch. The CL is coming back weakly, but the TT is quite strong. It's up more than any other I have.

Yes, go figure!

Mickie

I planted a small plug size TT last fall. It is coming back after VERY harsh winter. Did not increase though. All my Echinaceas are up except one After Midnight.

It's interesting hearing all the different results with these plants. I have some old-fashioned Echinaceas I've had for over 6 years. They come back every year with no problems. I only have trouble out of the ones crossed with Paradoxa.

It seems like there is way too much variability to say that any of these varieties aren't as hardy as the next from reading all of this.

My CL is just barely coming in from a decent plant that i planted last early summer. The TT is okay.. not big or small from the same sized plant. I hope these two hang on.

My E. Paradoxa that i started from seed last year stayed semi evergreen through the winter.

My sunset, sunrise and harvest moon, Green Jewel, "Rocky Top", tennesseensis, "Raspberry Tart", "Pink Parisol" are all coming back. All are still small.

My Pallida... still looking for it... got covered in some straw that i had around a fig... so i need to clear it out to check. I don't want to loose it.. i liked the look of it last year.

The standard purpurea are all up and the strongest of them all of course.

Last year we added one each of: "Midnight Sun," "Tiki Torch," "Coconut Lime," and "Pink Double Delight" or "Razzmatazz" (I think it may have been mislabeled). "Tiki Torch" and "Midnight Sun" did not make it. "Tiki" was planted close to the house in a dry zone so I don't think too much moisture got to the crown, maybe it received too little water late in the season. "Pink" or "Razz" is doing quite well, looking lush already. "CL" came back but is getting off to a slow start; it is not much bigger than last year, but it did make it through the winter. We are especially upset about "Tiki" because the color was beautiful and it was the most expensive perennial we bought last year.

Well, Tiki Torch from last fall didn't make it. :(
I have now planted a new one with better chances of success hopefully.

I just got an echinacea "Tiki Torch" myself this year. To ensure my plants survival, when I first plant them, I always fertilize with a high potassium fertilizer to ensure a strong root system develops. For those of you who lost your "Tiki Torch", my guess would be that they "heaved". This often happens in my zone. We'll get one little warm spell in late March or april, and the crown will be above the ground. Then, we get one heavy frost, and BAM the entire plant is shot. Mulching the plant heavily before winter sets in can help prevent this from re-occuring.

I don't believe that is what happened. Since I planted several varieties at the same time and only Tiki Torch failed...I think it's a genetic problem with Tiki Torch. If Coconut Lime and all the other plants returned, then something must be different genetically about Tiki Torch which caused it to fail. I grow tons of different coneflowers and I think there is a problem with the root systems of Tiki Torch and other paradoxa crosses. I planted 4 of these and only 1 returned. We didn't have a bad winter either. There is something genetic going on with these. I read an article about it. Someone recently posted a link to it. There is a flaw in these crosses which causes the root system to be very poor in them.

Echinaceafan, maybe you just didn't get them from a reputable source. My guess is that when the plants were sent to you, they had some sort of a disease, and this led to their decline and ultimately their death. Other people didn't seem to have this problem and I'm guessing that their plant didn't have those same pathogens as the ones yours most likely have. Unfortunately, not everyone purchases certified disease free material. It's like they say, you get what you pay for. I hope this never happens to anyone again.

I got mine from 2 different sources and I also received other echinaceas from them and all are back. I bought one locally yesterday and am going to root some cuttings of it. My cuttings usually outperform the original plants. I don't know why. Maybe it's the rooting hormone that makes the roots bigger. We shall see. I'm planting these in a new location too with afternoon shade. I have seen this help in other varieties, especially After Midnight and some other Big Sky Series plants.

Tiki Torch, Mac and Cheese and Tomato soup are all bred by Terra Nova Nurseries. They do extensive three year trials all over the world with their plants before they offer them to the general market.

EM... do you have the article you referenced. I remember reading it when it was first posted... i can't find the link anymore.