Sunday, September 30

Echinacea on the edge

"Sunrise' and 'Sunset' were developed by ItSaul Nurseries in Atlanta, Georgia and are part of the Big Sky series of echinacea.

Echinacea is an ambitious perennial. After receiving the prestigious Perennial Plant of the Year nomination in 1998, it wasted little time basking in the glow of the award. Rather, it has improved and diversified at a rate that keeps gardeners' heads turning.

There is a fair amount of human effort behind this magical metamorphosis. Dr. Jim Ault, director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden is one of the pioneers in echinacea breeding. He has been developing the Meadowbrite™ series since 1997. "This is a completely different direction for coneflowers," said Ault in a recent release.

The truth of the matter is, coneflowers will never be the same. Echinaceas are going the route of peonies, daylilies, iris and mums - a hybridizer's paradise.

What drew breeders to echinacea? The native species is incredibly popular. It's drought tolerant, cold hardy and bears beautiful magenta blooms from July to frost (in most cases). Additionally, there hadn't been much previous hybridizing in the species. While the two well-known cultivars 'Magnus' and 'White Swan' have enjoyed popularity among gardeners, the potential diversity of the species was untapped. With several different echinacea species native to the United States, there was plenty of material for crossbreeding. Maybe the question should be, "Why didn't hybridizers start sooner?"

Branching out on echinacea was a hidden gold mine, and like all good ideas, everyone wants a piece of it. Breeders are producing new varieties at amazing rates. Since Ault's first Meadowbrite release in 2004, over 30 new varieties have entered the market. That's a dizzying spiral to the top for a plant that once lived a quiet life on our native prairies. Among the new characteristics breeders have introduced are a rainbow of warm-toned colors - reds, yellows, oranges, pinks, burgundies and whites. Fragrance is a new, sought-after feature, as well as foliage interest. Some echinacea cultivars have variegation on the leaves or uniquely-colored stems. Double-flowering cultivars have broadened the possibilities and now many hybrid coneflowers look less like their ancestors and more like chrysanthemums or peonies. It is an exciting time to be a coneflower connoisseur.

Dr. Jim Ault, director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden, introduced Echinacea 'Pixie Meadowbrite.' Its diminutive size makes it a perfect choice for using in containers.

Ault's Meadowbrite series is characterized by vibrant colors and narrow petals, a trait found in E. paradoxa, one of the parent plants. Meadowbrites come in shades of orange, yellow and pink. Dr. Ault also developed a dwarf coneflower, 'Pixie Meadowbrite.'

The Big Sky series is the brainchild of ItSaul Plants in Georgia. These plants bear a fuller-looking bloom, courtesy of wider, overlapping petals. Two delightful new selections to come out of the series are 'Summer Sky,' a cherry-peach bicolor and 'Twilight,' with its fragrant rosy-red petals setting off from a dark red cone.

Echinacea 'Pink Double Delight' is one of the new double-blooming coneflowers introduced by Terra Nova Nurseries.

Out of Terra Nova Nurseries comes the Cone-fection series, chocked full of double-blooming coneflowers. These fluffy varieties resemble peonies, though not as large. 'Pink Double Delight,' 'Coconut Lime' and 'Pink Shuttles' are just the beginning for this extravagant looking series.

Here are some other new cultivars for you to consider:

• Echinacea 'Paranoia'* -- A dwarf form growing only 10 inches high, bearing yellow flowers.
• Echinacea 'Fragrant Angel'* -- This flower looks like a Shasta daisy on steroids. Giant 4 to 5-inch blooms are snowy white and wonderfully fragrant.
• Echinacea 'Ruby Giant'* -- These gigantic blooms are five to seven-inches across, fragrant, and wonderful for the background of your perennial bed at three-feet high.
• Echinacea 'Razzmatazz'* -- This double pompom flower is so full of petals it looks more like a relative of the chrysanthemum than the coneflower. The cone itself is obscured by the pink fluffiness, but the foliage and flower color are unmistakable.
• Echinacea 'Prairie Frost'* -- This coneflower boasts showy leaves with silver-edged variegation.
• Echinacea 'Sparkler' -- Another variegated selection, with splotches of white splattered all over the foliage.
• Echinacea 'Doppelganger'* -- This 'double-decker' flower has additional petals coming from the top of the cone. It looks a bit like a pink butterfly lighting atop the bloom. (May require two years after transplanting to develop the upper deck of petals.)
• Echinacea purpurea 'Fatal Attraction'* -- This selection has black stems supporting intense pink flowers.
• Echinacea purpurea 'Merlot'* -- Bright magenta flowers, five inches wide, float fragrantly atop wine colored stems.
• Echinacea purpurea 'Raspberry Tart'* -- Pendulous hot pink petals drip down from enlarged cones. Eighteen-inches tall.
• Echinacea 'Green Envy'* -- Green petals turn magenta near the cone.
• Echinacea 'Hope'* -- These light pink petals are fragrant and its beauty is more than skin deep. As part of the Plant for the Cure series, a portion of the proceeds from its sale go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
• Echinacea 'Green Eyes'* -- The center of the magenta cone is green and the flower is fragrant.

*Web Extra: Photos of these and other new echinacea varieties

Mollie Uftring developed a green thumb as a teenager working in the perennial beds at Hornbaker Gardens in Princeton, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in ornamental horticulture, she worked as a landscape designer in Ohio before returning to Illinois.