My Sunset died soon after purchase, never even saw it bloom. Twilight, Sundown, & Harvest Moon which were bought at the same time from the same place and planted in the same bed all did fine, blooming some the first season and wintering over and now blooming this year. When I replied to the very long "Comments on the performance of echinaceas" thread I forgot all about it, until this posting. Sure enough it's on my list and marked DIED within a month. Certainly sounds like a weak plant that doesn't belong in the marketplace.

I have "first year blooming" Baby White Swan and Prairie Splendor new this year. The first blooms on a couple Baby White Swan, spindly things that they are first year, were only large cones as shown in drivebytrucker's photo. I attributed it to fact they're in their first year and have been "engineered" to bloom first year to satisfy impatient people like me. I'd venture a guess that your blooms open normally with petals this year, drivebytrucker. There isn't a "first year blooming" perennial that's been a real bloomer for me but I'm impatient to fill space with blooms. I looked for 'aster yellows' and pests but didn't identify anything. The deer didn't daintily eat the petals off as they just bit off entire buds and spit them out because they'd been sprayed with repellant. It happened with Baby White Swan in two different garden beds. Rest of buds are opening with petals although most are more sparse than photos I saw before I got them. Don't know how "old" your plants were when you bought them, drivebytrucker, but they may have been young and the old saw "1st year they crawl, etc." may have been at work no matter what hybridizers try to do to get first year bloom out of a perennial like echinacea. I noticed that the "bare cones" are larger and more conical than the blooms with petals as shown in your picture of bare cone. You bought yours in "good faith" while I bought mine out of impatience. This is your second year so things should get back to Mother Nature's schedule for normal blooming. That's my uninformed guess...LOL.

1. What are the variety names of your roses? It is possible that they are once bloomers, and you only get one bloom cycle. Otherwise, after the blooms are finished, cut off the dead blooms (called "deadheading") to stimulate new growth and new buds. You also don't tell us how you water and fertilize, this information is key to trying to help resolve your issues. 2. Yes, those black spots are the fungal disease called "black spot". There are many threads discussing the issue. Rose dropped leaves/black spot, Organic way to treat black spot????, Persistant Black Spot.

Cut some lupine tight for a florist and within a day the petals started dropping off. Does anyone know what might of happened? Thanks, Kathleen