Wow, you guys are lucky to get them this early. Our regular cherries are just starting to ripen. The sour cherries are usually late June to early July here. Tartarian, royal lee, royal lynn and mini-royal are all ripening right now. Stella. lapins and bing are starting to turn color. rainier are starting to ripen as well. The only sour cherries I have are montmorency (delicious) and danube. Danube got nailed by brown rot, I forgot to spray it, so there isn't a single fruit on it.

I've got 4 seedlings from about 20-25 I sowed. I used the best dirt. I watched the moisture and made sure it didn't dry out. They were in dappled shade and have been through several 85+ degree days. They should have germinated by now if they were going to. I'm not impressed. If they're late, fine, but to not show up at all, they shouldn't have made such a fuss over these things when they released them. My R. "Autumn Colors", R. "Green Wizard", and seeds I collected from various sources have all done great. Even my echinacea are up and planted out. Echinacea paradox is almost as large as the ones coming back from last year. My cherry brandy seedlings, I have to get on my knees to make sure they haven't rotted away.

ramazz, no it wasn't yours but that one is sure pretty, very unusual. It was a photo by the side of a house with two large patches of PS and some other flower. They weren't exactly like my photo either as to double. Kind of a double decker effect except the top part was the same size as the bottom. That's how I remember it anyway, and often my memory plays tricks on me. If I can find that thread again, I'll link to it, too far back now. token, one person's trash is another's treasure. I know photos can only show us so much, but I find yours rather interesting, not that I'd run right out and grow it. Expecting something different may skew your perception of it, but I'd let it grow another year and see what it is like. I think it's kind of pretty actually, certainly different. Nice assortment of flowers and plants in your photo. But if you have your heart set on a nice cherry brandy, I'd hope to get some seeds from posters who have the prettiest ones or just try something else. But before you shovel prune it, maybe somebody on freecycle would want it or gasp, somebody here might want some seeds from it. Or a plant hybridizer. Look at what you've got, something truly unique even though not to your liking. If it were crossed with other ones, it could lead to some stunning new Rudbeckia. A grower might even be interested in it. I don't know if white has even shown up in Rudbeckias before or not, and the potential for crosses, good bad and ugly are endless.

NS - Orange Pixie is right in front of that one. They are smaller and not open just yet. I think that one was a potted one someone gave me for my birthday a couple years back. I did have a name for the red ones but can't remember now. Right behind those orange ones are 40 year old tiger lilies. I will post a pic when they open. A few around the yard are almost ready as well. Someone please do a sundance! If I wouldn't get dizzy, I would! Lol