I haven't tried many new kinds, only two or three perhaps. Let's see, I have tried 'Double Decker', 'Mango Meadowbrite', 'Harvest Moon', and 'Sun-something or other' from the Big Sky series.
I am still upset at my D.decker. I bought it not long after it first came out from a local nursery. I think they had bad seed, as it did not come out right. Since I have had it, it has not once doubled its decker. I only get a few stragly petals from the center. I will say, that this is a very healthy plant. It is much taller than my other ones too.
Mango Meadowbrite. I reeeally loved the color and flower shape on this one. I bought a big pot of it five years ago for half price. It looked ok for awhile (stingy blooms that flopped a good deal), but then it just kept getting smaller. The next year I went out to look for it and saw that only a tiny fragment of it lived. I dug it up and the two roots on it were as big as my pinky-finger nail! It died out that year.
Harvest Moon. I haven't seen this one for awhile, so I imagine it is no longer with us (R.I.P). Unlike many, I did not mind how the color faded; I liked the look of the bright yellow with the lighter one. Looked nice planted with red corn poppy. It just never thrived.
'Sun-something' was just a little start, and died soon after I obtained it.
I have given up on new kinds of Echinacea; I just don't have the patience for fussy plants that die out so easily.

My ex-neighbor went crazy over them. Some of them were very pretty, but I decided not to buy any more myself after most of hers died over one winter (wet here also).
I am now content with my 'Magnus' and 'White Swan'. They never fail me. I have a large patch of Magnus in one bed. White Swan, which hasn't reseeded as much, is planted next to Lamb's Ears. I like the white flowers with the silvery foliage.
CMK

I purchased a reduced, end of season unnamed Echinacea last year that I believe was "Summer Sky." I was very surprised by the fragrance. A few weeks later I purchased "After Midnight" which I just loved and it was also fragrant. Unfortunately, only one made it through the winter, and I think it was Summer Sky. I cannot recall which one was planted where although I'm hoping for "After Midnight." The survivor is very healthy and robust looking.

As my garden is a cutting garden, I did some research and just purchased three Echinacea Rubinstern (Ruby Star) through Bluestone. Ruby Star was the recommended cultivar for cut flowers so I'm hoping it works out. It has been around for awhile so it may be hardier than the Big Sky series. I hope Ruby Star blooms this year but I am doubtful as the plants are pretty small.

I may cave and buy another "After Midnight." It was gorgeous even though the stems were short for cut flowers.

Teresa

This is my first time growing any echinacea. A few that I picked up at the end of the season last year are returning and looking very healthy. The ones I started from seed are giving me mixed results.

Be sure to collect and share seed. While they may not come true, the result could be very interesting.

I only grow the old 'purple coneflowers'. They are a native for us, and they do wonderfully well in our flowerbeds too. I have tried some of the others, but none perform nearly as well as the origional. I will be happy with it.

I have a LOT of seeds, if anybody wants some...

Janie

I started an Album on the Gallery for the OLD Varieties.

I've been growing them since about ten years ago when Miss Billie pulled up a clump with spent blooms and said,
"Here, cut these back and plant them, they will grow." I've been dividing, and planting seeds ever since.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Echinacea: OLD Varieties

Sunrise: didn't overwinter and it messed up my design! (I had a sunrise/sundown theme going)

Sundown: overwintered 2 years in a row and looking fine

Harvest Moon: only 1 out of 7 made it through 1st winter; remaining one has one bloom right now after 2nd winter.

Ruby Star: strong performer for me. Long bloom season. A favorite.

Prairie Splendor: planted Sept 08 and bloomed through a few frosts; looking great right now.

Cameron

I am another one of those irritaing purist. I only want the one that is indigenous to my area, Echinacea augustifolia. Unfortunately the deer LOVE them. I can see why they are becoming endangered in there natural habitat.

Donald of 'Donald's Texas Garden' blog has pictures of 'Orange Meadowbrite' and 'Sundown' today.

He hopes to collect every Orange purple coneflower there is, he says. 'Tiki Torch' died.

There was a wonderful discussion over on the perennials forum...lemme see if I can find it...

Here's one, but this isn't the one I was thinking of:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0614203010831.html?52

Ahhh...here it is:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg060959322063.html

Tiki Torch died on me, too. :( And I loved it so.

Big Sky sunrise - I've had it going on my third year and it's doing fine. The seeds are easy to germinate.

Harvest Moon - didn't make the first winter.

Ruby Giant - grown from seed and it's really getting large. This is the second blooming season.

White Swan - doing great - have grown others from seed - easy to germinate and can take some shade.

I would like to try echinacea pallida. I have seen pictures of it for a while, and last summer I saw a couple of stands of it at the Oregon Garden. They have skinny little petals, but are really beautiful en masse.

I'm sorry--I tried to submit a link for you but failed. You might wish to Google a picture to see how pretty it is.

Pat

I had E. pallida in my garden for many years - as long as it isn't disturbed in good draining soil and other plants aren't crowding it should do fine.

We unfortunately lost ours this year due to DH reworking the stone retaining wall it was and I think it was inadvertantly disturbed or partially dug up which it hates once it's established - it has a longer taproot then the more fibrous E. purpurea.

I will show my ignorance, but I just have to ask......
What determines whether a variety is "old" or "new"?

This is a pet peeve of mine as I've tried several and despite claims that they are hardy in zone 5, many clearly aren't. And they're quite expensive to buy and then have die over the winter. I've tried:

Harvest Moon twice - died first winter both times.
Sundown - died
Coconut Lime - died
Mango meadowbright - lived through first winter, died in it's second winter.

I now have Vintage Wine and Summer Sky this year. I'm not buying any more if these 2 don't make it through their first winter. They are too expensive to use as "annuals", and they don't seem to like my zone :)

I really wanted Harvest Moon to make it, it looks so beatiful. Art's Pride also looks like a beauty, and I've been wanting Tiki Torch as well. I'm excited to see Vintage Wine bloom, the colour looks very pretty! After Midnight also looks really nice.

The species purple coneflower of course is quite hardy here, and reseeds quite profusely.

As for double decker, I've never grown a double one, but I've heard that it takes them several years to develop their upper level...for the first couple years, they are just single flowers. After a couple years, they should develop their double decker!

1.) Pink Double Delight - Always blooms more and longer than the others. It's superior to all of them I've grown. It can grow in full sun or part sun.

2.) Razzmatazz - This one has been in a wet location for 4 years and always comes back and blooms all summer.

3.) Pallida - It always returns. I do have to spray it with Daconcil each May, but that's a small price to pay for such a beautiful plant. Pretty blooms on very long stems!

4.) Paradoxa - It is a dependable yellow coneflower. It returns each year and looks better each year. It's slow to establish, but once it does...look out. You will have big yellow blooms with such nice, long stems!

5.) After Midnight - As long as it's grown in a location with afternoon shade, this plant will thrive. It doesn't have the distorted petals of other Big Sky Series plants.

6.) Tiki Torch - Big Disappointment so far! The color is nice and doesn't fade, but the plant is not a good perennial. Only 25% of my plants returned after winter. They were all in a bed with excellent drainage. All the other plants returned too! I'm experimenting with it in a shadier location. I will post my results next year!

7.) Sundown - A nightmare to grow! Some years the petals are distorted. It does over-winter here, but what a disappointment. The blooms fade very rapidly to a pastel ugly color.

8.) Twilight - This plant wouldn't grow. It turned solid black and died and never returned. I didn't waste anymore money on it.

9.) Sunrise - A complete disaster! Distorted petals...Blooms fade too quickly! Plant returns smaller than the year before. HATE IT!

10.) Harvest Moon - Another disaster. Nice blooms when they first open, but they fade to an ugly pastel color too. Distorted petals. Poor winter-hardiness. Plants that do return are smaller than the year before.

11.) Merlot - Nice plant. Seems to be a winner.

12.) Coconut Lime - I love this one, but it does return smaller than the previous year. I'm waiting for it to bloom and will post then.

13.) Mac 'N Cheese - A very weak plant. If I were you, I wouldn't purchase this one yet. Wait until next year. This one is not going to impress anyone.

14.) Tomato Soup - A better grower than Mac 'N Cheese, but I think you should wait on this one too.

15.) Pink Poodle - The pictures of this one are staged. This plant has poor branching habit. You'll be lucky if you get one bloom the first year.

E.... I know Echinaceas are one of your favorite plants and you've done quite a study on these so thank you for posting your findings.
Quite a few, me included are getting bitten by the bug and knowing which ones perform the best is going to be very helpful to those who want to try a few of the newer varieties.
Being they are a little on the pricey side picking one that has the possibility of being a winner in one's garden will justify the cost.
The nurseryman who I bought my new varieties from this spring has toured the Terra Nova trial gardens and according to him we are in for some real beauties in the future.
I have always been a collector but getting older has me changing the game plan, moving from container collections to more I can plant out.
I see Twilight didn't grow for you, mine is coming back nicely, it's the fragrance of this one that has me hooked and the flowers on mine last year also had a good form.
This is only the second season for most of mine and being so much farther behind in the growing season then a lot on this forum it will be the summer before I can really assess how well mine are doing. In the meantime I'm hoping to pick up Coral Reef, Flame Thrower and Firebird.

We'd love to see some pictures of you seedlings, I know you've got some winners :o).

Annette

I'm growing purple coneflower for the first time this year. Hoping and praying for the best outcome. I wanted TN, as this is obviously suited to my climate. I'll let you know how my other, basic varieties do. I believe these are heirlooms, as they are used for medicinal purposes. Looking foward to blooms as well. I believe in old varieties, but when one was presented as TN coneflower, very native? I'm intrigued. Heirloom is ALWAYS best, if not as resistant to dx as new hybrids. Go for it!!! Start from seed, little loss if it doesnt work out.

FWIW, the nurseryman where I work said a lot of the newer (i.e. commercial hybrids) just won't make it long term, which does make them expensive to try and re-try. I bought some Tennessee echinacea seeds from Johnny's Seeds. They are an endangered species but Johnny's obviously has a permit. They are cute little things--they stand right up and look you in the eye, like a good Tennessee girl. {{gwi:678063}} The plants themselves are rather weedy looking, but in a cottage garden (as opposed to a formal one) there's usually enough other plants crammed in around them that the lax habit isn't a problem. At least that's how I feel. :-)