My Trial Garden Early Winners and Losers

Echinacea 'Tomato Soup'

Well many perennials have started poking their heads out of the ground, yet alas some have not. One of the early losers is my Echinacea 'tomato soup'. Planted in the spring of 2009, I was surprised and delighted to see it come back with vigor in 2010. Yesterday I have determined that it has not returned to see 2011. It was planted in a dry, sunny spot in the garden where it should have thrived. I am not entirely disappointed, since the color of this although nice when first open, faded quickly. This is the best photo I had since it didn't grow all that well. Echinacea 'hot papaya on the other hand looks to be doing wonderfully, planted in the spring of 2010, I can't wait to see those blooms.

Trialing Echinaceas

I am trialing some of the new AB cultivars, echinaceas for overwintering, bud count and color. I am planting E. 'hot papaya', E. 'meringue' and E. 'pink double delight' to see if all are equally as good as E. 'coconut lime' in strength and vigor. I will also do a comparison between 'coconut lime' and 'meringue' for color. If anyone has any comments or info. on these varieties already, please share them.

Pictured are 'meringue' top, and an early bloom of 'hot papaya' on bottom.

Echinacea 'Art's Pride

I've been wanting to post this since last week but major computer failure prevented me from doing so. My first and most favorite echinacea to bloom has once again opened it's lovely orange cones. Orange Meadowbrite Coneflower Echinacea 'Art's Pride' is not your typical "Garden Center" plant as it is tall, lanky and sometimes floppy, but I tell people that you can spot the color from across the garden it is so bright. It is a must have for Echinacea lovers. 


The following is a description from the Missouri Botanical Garden website "Echinacea Orange Meadowbrite grows to 2-3’ tall on rigid stems. It features fragrant, daisy-like coneflowers (to 5” diameter) with orange to coppery-orange rays and large, pin cushion-like, dark brown central cones. Flowers bloom from June to August with some sporadic later bloom." Art’s Pride’ is a coneflower that has no purple on it. It is noted for having distinctive orange ray flowers, a sweet orange-spiced tea fragrance and semi-glossy dark green leaves. ‘Art’s Pride’ is a product of a breeding program conducted at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Parents for this variety were Echinacea purpurea ‘Alba’ (female) and Echinacea paradoxa (male). It typically grows to 2-3’ tall on rigid stems. It features fragrant, daisy-like coneflowers (to 5” diameter) with orange to coppery-orange rays and large, pin cushion-like, dark brown central cones. Flowers bloom from June to August with some sporadic later bloom."

The first photo is an early stage bloom with the in the later stages, but they hold there color better than some of the newer varieties on the market