The small picture isn't bad, but the bigger picture looks a bit too orange to me. Art's Pride comes out orange but quickly develops some purple tones, so the color is rather variable. It has been a wonderful grower for me though at times it does flop over. However, I have been starting seed from it and have seedlings that just blow it away - huge flowers, sturdier stems, and more vibrant colors.

Look at Echinacea 'Sundown'. It is not a bright orange and has better flowers and better stature.

Just remember, these are prairie plants and they prefer to start very dry, especially in the spring. Don't water them until the weather gets hot out, then always make sure the soil is dry and wait for them to wilt before giving them supplemental water. Seems that people are always having trouble with Echinacea - I am a grower and I field grow them in areas with no irrigation, sandy/gravel soil, and they grow like the weeds that they are. ;)

Hope that helps.

Chris

I WS it last year and have one that has buds about to open. I am anxiously waiting to see how it turns out and will take a pic when it opens.

christopher, I asked this echinacea question on the Cottage Garden Forum and got no reply, so let me ask you (or anybody else here, please): I planted all of the Saul echs last summer and most are very tall and very sturdy and very beautiful, BUT they start wilting very shortly after deep watering. I don't get it. I always thot echs were drought tolerant. Now that they are almost all in bloom, they seem to need less water. Is this normal?
Pat
SE Mich

I would avoid "Sundown" if I were you. That's the plant with the quilled petal problem. You will have a difficult time finding one without the distorted blooms.

"Art's Pride" is one you will be lucky if it returns after winter. I've read many reports about this one being a very poor garden performer. That plant is pretty much disappearing. Many places no longer carry it because it performed so poorly.

There is a new one called "Tangerine Dream" that is supposed to be a good performer, but they always say that with the new ones! I'd wait on that one. "Tiki Torch" wasn't the best at coming back after winter either.

No matter which plant you choose...Choose one in a gallon pot. Choose from plants with several blooms on them. Look at the blooms closely for deformities (quilled petals, crooked petals, etc.) Pick out the plant with the most perfectly shaped blooms.

Don't buy plugs or small plants with any of the new cultivars unless you are willing to lose some or all of them over winter.

echinaceamaniac, are you sure you mean Sundown? I know from your postings that you feel it loses color too soon. But from what I have seen and experienced it is Sunset that is impossibly quilled, I have several Sundowns and they have not shown a problem with quilling.

Joyce - Sundown has quilled petal problems too. I was just looking at a truckload of them this week. Only one plant had normal blooms.

Sunset had worse quilling but Sundown has it too. I think I posted photos of it in a thread here so people could see it.

The blooms fade very quickly. Maybe they fade slower up north, but here they fade to an ugly, pastel shade within 2-3 days.

That's interesting,echinaceamaniac. This year more of my Sundowns will be blooming as the woodchuck has not been around (knock wood). I'll watch for quilling and as my first one just opened I will see how long it looks good in this area.

I actually have a sundown. Gasp! ;) It's the first year on it, and so far it looks OK. But I did see what you (echinaceamaniac) have been talking about (I've been reading the ech posts) in my Mom's Sundown. She has one with petals only on one side. Sooo, I dunno, we'll see. Mine looked good when I bought it, and wasn't from Stacy's (It was Viva, I think). I couldn't resist, as it was the perfect color. NOT the color on the tag, but it fades to a color that is perfect for what I wanted. I have it with Autumn Joy sedum and they look smashing together. I hope it works.

Anyway, what interested me about Arts Pride was that it looked like a deep, burnished orange, not a bright orange. Kind of rusty. You know what I mean? Do you know of another echinacea that would fit that bill?

I love echs. Had the common purple at my other house. I got some White Swans for our new house last year, and man, they are doing awesome!! I don't think you can beat them for low-maintenance, long season of bloom!

Saw some Coconut Lime today and was sooo tempted... :)

I grow Mango Meadowbrite, a sport of Art's Pride. I like it because I have found it to be one of the longest blooming varieties.

Here it is in my garden next to 'Tiki Torch':

{{gwi:252595}}

Pretty! They're beautiful together. So is it really a Mango-y color? On my monitor it looks like a light peachy-yellow.