Sunset Echinacea

[nanny_56]

I think the bees or BF's traded some pollen here between Sunset & Harvest Moon.

This bloom opened on Sunset today. You can see an old 'normal' bloom behind it.

[John]

Is it me, or do the leaves around the giant flower appear thicker and much larger also? I'm wondering if you used some chemical herbicide, which actually caused that part of the plant to convert to a higher ploidy, such as diploid to tetraploid? This wouldn't be the result of cross-pollination, that would only show up in the seedlings.

[toomanyanimals]

Whatever it is, it's a nice blend of colors. I really do like the new Echinaca's (spelling?).

[nanny_56]

Nope, no chemical herbicide has been used, not on my part anyway. I bought this from Chris this spring. I have only used plant food a couple of times on all my plants this summer. All of my echinacea have put out very large leaves here and they were all planted this spring.

I will be watching this one and see what it does in the future. I really like the color of the bloom and it woud be a nice compliment to Harvest Moon, which has become my favorite.

By the way John, the dl seeds you sent me are doing fabulous!

[Chris_W]

Hi Claudia,

That color is normal for Sunset, depending on the amount of sunlight it is getting or how hot it is. This one colors like this in part shade and during cooler, cloudy weather. Sun and heat ages it to a little more purple.

The one plant in this series that has given me some trouble is Twilight. It has been a really slow grower and overall a poor performer. Some of the Sunset have been problems in that every once in a while a plant will have petals that never open - I've tried to weed these out. Harvest Moon is my favorite too, then I really like the color and performance of Sundown. So far I'm not crazy about Sunrise.

I saw some After Midnight this summer that looked beautiful, so I'll be starting some of those, but the one that I don't understand is Summer Sky... It is being marketed as an orange and purple bi-color, but from what I've seen with all of these, orange and purple may become brown as the flowers age, so I'm a little skeptical of that one.

[nanny_56]

Hi Chris!

Glad to know then that that is within the 'normal' range of coloring. I know there have been alot of issues and controversy with Sunset but i like it regardless.

I am a confessed echinacea addict , so I have all of them that you mentioned. I agree that Sunrise is my least favorite too.

The Twilight I got this year has grown very well, though it has not bloomed profusely. I had a couple last year from a different source and struggled and never amounted to much. I tried bringing one with me when we moved and it died. I hope the one I left survived!

After Midnight has a very striking color and the plus of being short. It has not been as vigorous as the other, but to be fair I have moved it a couple times during the summer so that did not help it none!!

I have had no browning on my Summer Sky it holds very well for me and just eventually wilts down.

So gee, if you ever need to get rid of some or 'field test' some, you know where I am!!!

[mooie]

I agree with claudia on the After Midnight. While it's a very cool color when it first opens, it fades off to dull. I grew a batch of these this year and I say that loosely because they really are a bit difficult to grow. They start out great, then just sort of fade away. Could have been a bad batch but I'm a bit leary of them.

The Harvest Moon and the Sundown are also my favorites for the new colors. I have a second year HM that is just starting to bloom, cuz the squirrels have finally left it alone.
I will try to post a pic later on. Anywho, it's color is very fresh and vibrant.
I find it hard to tell the difference between the Sunset and Twilight.
I'm interested to see how the new Tiki Torch from Terra Nova is going to be. They are going to run out of colors pretty soon!!

mooie

[FreakyCola]

I bought several of the new colors of Echinacea last year and planted them all pretty close together. AFterwards I wondered if they will cross pollinate & all come up purple next year??? I know the white ones I have on one side of my house come up purple the next year. Someone tried to explain that to me, but I just don't get it!

Will we ever be able to buy seeds for these new colors or are they only made by tissue culture?

[zil1]

I saw some After Midnight this summer that looked beautiful, so I'll be starting some of those, but the one that I don't understand is Summer Sky... It is being marketed as an orange and purple bi-color, but from what I've seen with all of these, orange and purple may become brown as the flowers age, so I'm a little skeptical of that one.

I have been drooling over the Summer Sky ones for a while now, and I was planning on getting some since I have this pesky thing called sun at my new house the last thing I want is something that turns brown, I have enough trouble with that as it is.

You think it would survive this far south? I see the usual suspects here, like the regular purple and sometimes white. I would like to add some of the newer varieties to my yard.

[Chris_W]

Hi Liz,

If you can grow the purple ones I don't see any reason why you couldn't grow the orange ones. Harvest Moon, Sunset, and Sundown have all been very vigorous for us. Sunrise and Twilight have been hit and miss, but I think we will finally have a good crop of Twilight this year.

And Ellen, to answer your question, no these colors won't be available from seed. They set a lot of seed, that's to be sure, but the seedlings won't always come true. I have a large crop of seed grown plants from Sunset that will be in their 3rd year this year so I'm really looking forward to seeing the blooms on all of them, but from what I saw last year the colors were not even close to the same as the parent. I'll get some pictures of them this summer

[eastwood2007]

I'd like to see those pics, Chris!