Gorgeous!!

Echinaceamaniac, I just received my Aug/Sept issue of Horticulture magazine, and there is a huge article on Echinaceas. Thought you might be interested.

Love that Tiki Torch and the Coconut Lime! Beautiful photos!

Bonnie

Thanks for the info Bonnie. I'll have to get my hands on that magazine! I'm addicted to these plants. There is just something about them that works for me.

I'm also getting into Penstemons now! Someone here posted a picture and now I'm ordering plants and seeds. I see a new addiction coming. At least these will look good with the coneflowers! I'm not changing my name to penstemonmaniac though! LOL.

This isn't a Penstemon, it's Agastache 'Apache Sunset', but I think it is the perfect companion for Echinacea 'Summer Sky'!

{{gwi:201053}}

Bonnie

Bonnie,

You won't believe this, but I ordered seeds of that exact plant 10 minutes ago! They have them on sale at Thompson-Morgan for 99 cents. I just had to have them. What a coincidence.

Great minds think alike : )

The one T & M carries is 'Apricot Sprite', which is a brighter orange than mine, but it will look awesome planted next to your Tiki Torch!

Bonnie

My favorites from your pics - Double Delight and Coconut Lime. Very pretty.

The common coneflower does well for me. However the newer ones have not survived. I know they like sun and good drainage. Any other suggestions?
I just purchased one of the newer ones from Lowe's.

I am in the Greenville, Spartanburg area of SC.

marthaye,

I have found they come back better if you don't cut them down in the fall. Wait until Spring and remove the dead bloom stalks after they have started growing.

Those were glorious. Thanks for sharing them.

Kate

Can you ID this Echinacea? I bought it as 'Double Delight' at the local garden fair. Something tells me it is not a DD :)

{{gwi:249736}}

Also, my 'Tiki Torch' does not look like yours Echinaceamaniac:

{{gwi:249738}}

Do you think it is mislabeled? Does your TT fade to pink?

alina 1,

Someone sold you a Harvest Moon (The Yellow One)
and a Sundown (The Orange One)

The Sundown has quilled petals. It also fades to that ugly pastel pink color and doesn't stay orange. Notice the quilled petals on your plant. I can't believe they told you that was Tiki Torch!

The Harvest Moon is bad about dying over the winter and/or coming back half the size of the previous year. I hope you have better luck with these plants than I have had. So many of these Big Sky Series Coneflowers look like something that grew in Chernobyl!

How is the White Swan variety of echineacea? I have the regular old style echineacea, have not tried any of the newer ones after reading so much about the reduced winter hardiness of some of them. But I was tempted by the White Swan on sale today. (Not sure I like the white petals with that big orangey center, thoughÂ) Anyone grow it and like it?

EM,
I have both 'Harvest Moon' and 'Sundown' in my garden. 'Sundown' is somewhat similar to that "TT", but it is more pale. I guess the intensity of color could depend on sun/shade ratio. I've bought that "TT" from Dutch Garden. I think it is time to complain about mislabeled plant... I am so upset... I was looking forward to Tiki Torch blooming...
'Harvest Moon' is much more yellow than the mislabeled Echinacea on the first picture. The shape of flowers is also different... And my HM is 2 times shorter than this one... I really do not think it is a HM... Could it be a different strain? In fact, this mislabeled one is much prettier than HM!

Glorious photos, echinaceamaniac!

What a study in variety of all characteristics. Love the pinwheel.

I really like the pictures of Penstemon "Mystica" that I've seen. I have weakness for dark foliage/stem contrast with blooms.

If you do for Penstemon what you've done with Echinacea it'll be terrific!

I've got some places where the 'Coconut Lime' and the 'Double Delight' would be great! I have so much salvia (spires) that I need some sphere shapes to break it up for interest. I had planted 'Harvest Moon' with the salvia, but those are history. I have only one that came back and it's barely 15" high.

The 'Tiki Torch' orange shade is so much better than the annual tithonia 'Fiesta del Sol' that I'm using right now for orange in the butterfly garden. However, the Monarchs love the tithonia.

I've had good luck so far (knock on wood) with the deer not bothering my coneflowers. As sure as I extend my plantings, they'll probably decide to munch them!

Thanks for the photos.
Cameron

Beautiful coneflowers! You have such a variety.

I've had white swan for years and love it!

I also let my regular coneflowers go to seed, and have gotten such a huge variation. Some are dwarf, blooms only 6 inches tall, some are very tall - 4.5 feet. Some are very pale pink, but my favorites are some that are very dark pink with pinkish centers. If you just let them go to seed, you will see amazing variation.

EM - Do you also grow Razzmatazz? I've had that one several years (bought it when it was $50). It performs and blooms well. I was wondering if you (or anyone) grows both it and Double Delight and compare/ contrast them? In your picture it seems the DD has some soft pink petaloides.

Also, when you say "easy to propagate", do you mean grow? seed? divide? cutitings?

Linnea - I grow White Swan. I lost Fragrant Angel twice. White Swan has huge blooms, stiff stems and is 5'+ tall.

Happy Coning! Mickie

Mickie,

I have Razmatazz too. It has fewer blooms, but they are larger. The plant isn't as attractive as Double Delight, but the blooms are nice. The blooms of Double Delight are a lighter pink and Razmatazz are a darker pink. There is also so many more blooms per plant on Double Delight. Double Delight keeps bloom right to frost. I'll post a photo later of both together for comparison.

When I say they are "easy to propagate" I mean they root from basal cuttings or divisions very rapidly. I'm going to post a photo of my rooted cuttings tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly Coconut Lime establishes strong roots from a basal cutting.

Can you explain how to make a "basal cutting". I'm new to propogating but I'm ready to try. Thanks

nikkineel,

I'll post this tomorrow morning. I'll take pictures and show how I did it. Some coneflowers develop roots better than others but it can be done with any variety. Here's the basics of how I do this...

It's best to work with an established plant. Basically you look for small plantlets around the crown of the mother plant. They will come loose by wiggling them back and forth. Many times these will have a small root or a few. I dip these in rooting gel (Clonex) and plant them into small peat pots with moistened Jiffy seed starter mix. I place these into a clear or frosted plastic tote (from Target/Wal-Mart) with a light on top. I cut a few small holes in the top of the container for air exchange. Place a saucer with water in it inside the tote (for extra humidity) for about a week or two. After about 2-3 weeks, I remove the plants to see if they can remain outside the humidity of the tote. If they wilt (within 2 hours), I put them back into the container. After they don't wilt anymore, it's time to put them outside under a shade tree for a few days. Now would be a good time to plant the peat pots into a larger container. After they are used to being outside, I plant them in their final location. It's so easy when you get used to it. I learn something new about these plants every year. I'm getting better and better at rooting them. I'd say this works 98% of the time. Usually when it doesn't work is if you over-water them. Keep that in mind when working with them.

Thanks, EM. I look forward to your photos.

Mickie

Wonderful photos!

I really like that "Pinwheel" coneflower - I've never seen anything like it, and I imagine a whole plant like that would be stunning. Would be nice if it was stable!

Glad I am not the only one who dreams of letting a huge field go to seed with coneflowers everywhere! Unfortunately, I live in an apartment for now, so no luck...

Beautiful echinacea!! I had to run out and get me some the very next day!

Beautiful flowers! I especially like the very first one - nice full flower, great color. :)

I have Magnus and White Swan, both are beautiful & sturdy in my garden. I would like to try Kim's Knee High or Ruby Star. Which do you like best and why?

They would be planted with an apricot daylily/yarrow combo that includes Powis Castle artemisia and a Royal Purple cotinus (smoke bush).

Prairiegirl, I like Ruby Star because it has big blooms with huge cones and good color, but either one of those plants will be great for you. The problem with coneflowers is I want them all and can't choose just one!

Thanks so much for the absolutely gorgeous photos, echinaceamaniac! I am learning so much from you - thank you!!! :-)