Thursday, October 2, 2008

Fall Bloomers: The Virtuous Echinacea

We at Victoria Gardens love all varieties of Echinacea. This one pictured to the left is named 'Virgin' (we can only guess because of it's lovely white pedals). Our specimens look fresh and fantastic. Other new varieties that we like are are 'Green Envy' and 'Green Jewel' (the latter being a little more cream colored with just a hint of green). 'Kim's Knee High' is another one of our favorites. It is a stout and sturdy Echinacea that only gets about 15" to 18" high.

There were a couple hybrids that disappointed us two seasons ago, 'Art's Pride' and "Meadow Bright', which promised to be red and orange, but they were scraggly and they lost their color. They were really miserable performers.

However, there are some new varieties, which are proving to live up to their promises. 'Sunrise', 'Sundown', 'Sunset', and 'Summer Skies' are some stellar Echinacea that we have field tested, and we highly recommend.