So healthy looking - pretty, tiff

Carrie

I've got my purple cones right next to my white swans too and I not seen anything like that!!!! Pretty! They must be "friskier" up in Canada (smile)

This is my have to have lots more of flower this year. I only have a couple plants, but I have lots of babies already. I've got Magnus too, hoping he mates with the white swan that I hope will bloom any day now.

Very Nice! I have Purple Coneflowers, Sundown Coneflowers and Tiki Coneflowers all planted next to each other. I cut off the dried seed heads today. Now I am curious to see what their babies will look like.

Those are beautiful!

All my echinacea look terrible this year they had almost no petals and the ones it did get were all wilted looking and the color pale. After seeing this I think I'm going to rip the ones I have out and toss them.

Pretty, Tiffy.

I have regular purple coneflower, Magnus, Twilight, and Doppelganger. Doppleganger looks like it has aster yellows most of the time and only forms another "hat" on top on a few flowers and they're not full hats, either. Both it and Magnus are too tall and need staked against our wind/rain or they fall over. Twilight has never thrived in the 3 years that I've had it. I'm giving it one more year. I do have to try some white ones.

Karen

My friend has one of the orange ones, forgot the exact name. It has been third year and the plant had white, various pink and orange flowers on the SAME plant at the same time, was kind of weird but unique look to it....
I am guessing they probably genetically even more unstable than streaked hosta....

Hmmm. ""friskier" up in Canada." Must be the cold winters Nan...

Token, This is a wsown plant from last year so it is in it's second year. My mature plants started blooming more than a month ago and are still going strong. You will love the addition of more Echs in the gardens.

Gardencrazy,
I have several started this year from seeds of other gardeners. Sundown is one of them as well as Sunrise, Fatal Attraction, and a couple more. I can see by the stem colouring that some will not come true to their parent - which I expected - so am excited for next year.

Karen,
I tried a couple of the new varieties and gave up. Sunset was one. By "tried" I mean bought. What a waste of $$!!! Now I generally read the reviews on the Perennial Forum and take it from there. Pink Delight was a winner with everyone so I bought it late last year and it definitely was worth it.
My winter sown Doppledanger was a bit of a bust too. No pretty toupee on this one. Just the odd cowlick. LOL!! They are a point of conversation though.

Linda,
I've heard of variations on the same plant but not to that extreme! Your friend has a very unusual plant.

Oh, yeah, Tiffy, I forgot about pink double delight. I bought that one on sale a couple of weeks ago. So far I like it.

Karen

Now I am interested in seeing what happens in my gardens next year. I had 'Jade' in the back garden and 'Magnus' in the front but moved a few of the Magnus babies back with the Jade last fall and they look beautiful together. As a matter of face, I found 'Magnus' performed better in the semi-shade. Will be interesting to see if they 'get together' to produce anything interesting.

This is the result of my ws '07 traded 'Sunset' seeds. It had a slight hint of yellow last year but looks completely white this year. Still a nice sturdy plant with a lovely fragrance.

{{gwi:339599}}

Today I bought 'Pink Poodle' at just over $7 per plant. The pots are large (2 gal?) with sturdy plants that have buds but not open flowers.

I like the looks of Double Pink Delight but it has been a weak plant in my garden. I have had it two years and moved it this summer. Still a small weak plant.

Northerner, you are right about the shade. Sometimes they do perform better with a bit of it. It make the colours POP.

mnswgal,

I think you got the runt of the litter on that Pink Delight. Out of all the Echs I've bought, this one has been the most vigorous in terms of booms. I hope it wakes up for you next year! Threaten the darn thing - that usually works. :O)

What a beauty! :) I read up on my Big Sky series (which is a mix of all of those included in the series),I found out that the parents of those varieties are regular purple echinacea and Paradoxa,which I have both of! So I am moving them side by side and excited to see what their babies will turn out to be! Echinacea is definitely a fun plant to grow,not only is it pretty,but the wildlife just adores it!
Thanks for sharing with us!:)

Angie - I've done the opposite this year and have planted my Big Sky babies and other varieties that are non-purple on opposite sides of the yard. In the past, my non-purple varieties have usually reverted back to their parentage (purple) since it's the dominant gene. Will be interesting to see over the next two years what they do!

Sandy