I will be digging my echies. I read this article and it seems the only thing to do.
Really disappointed because 3 varieties are new or only 2 years old.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/f...

Note references to Impatien virus.Guess those are off my shopping list for a few years also.

Post pictures before getting rid of plants many mistake mite damage as being aster yellow and dispose of plants. Do you see a lot of leaf hoppers in your garden?

My Hot Summers had a bronze leaf problem as well as incomplete petal production.
The Harvest moons had short stems with no increase in plant size after 2 seasons and malformed flowers. The new Secret Joys had malformed flowers and 2 of the new plants outright died.
I have Summer Sky in another part of the garden It seems to be O K as well as the common Purple cone flower that was here when we moved in.It multiplies like mad.
I think the Ruby Giants are O K too.
Sorry no pix

Harvest Moon had malformed blooms is pretty common with Big Sky plants , not a strong grower that has never overwintered for me
Aster Yellow damage. http://www.google.com/imgres?i...
http://www.clemson.edu/extensi... See if this helps.
If the leaves look fine and the flower petals are correct color chances are it is mites , if the flower petals are green and it looks like small leaves are growing out of flower it might be Aster Yellow.

Thanks for the link.I think its mites.
The only Big Sky echies I have left are Summer Sky,4 years old I love it.
Echies wont be replaced here.

My 'Green Envy' was showing some deformities before I even planted it. I do not remember who I bought it from but I did not want to take chances, and I threw it into the trash. Is this a Big Sky?? To my knowledge I have had no luck with the Big Sky series.

I dont believe its a Big Sky plant.
I had Green Envy 5 years ago,after 3 years of pathetic blooms that eventually turned pink during the season,I tossed it.
I Bought Secret Joy from Bluestone this spring.#3 plants, all dug and tossed last week due to virus.
I just wont plant echies for a few years, same goes for impatiens.

I hear you! I did have good luck with the PowWow's. Amazing Dream was the only one that lived from the batch I got from Yahoo Groups (they actually shipped in October) and the other 4 were 'Joy's. Hot Papaya is not doing well, only one flower all summer, the other plant was deformed and I threw it out. I grew a Tennessee from seed and that is doing well, also Pica Bella does good. I will see how these new ones do. Aloha, Flame Thrower, Butterflies Julia, and Cheyenne Spirit. Oh, PowWow Berry comes true from seed if you want to grow something cheap, also there is a white one said to come true. For me PowWow white was the most vigorous, I planted two small ones together that I got from SRG.

Green Envy is not Big Sky , but always seems to end up looking like a pink one.
Bayre 3 in 1 works well on the mites.

Thanks for thye Bayre tip.

I have been just cutting the flowers off, looked like a couple of the Amazing Dream has mites.

I am suspicious of any new plants now. I cant find my TikiTorch anymore either.
Ohh Well I will look at my wishlist to see what can be substituted.

Being suspicious has paid off for me. I have the Bayer 3n1 for daylily rust and that kills mites also, you just attach it to a hose. I have not been able to use it because of all the bees but they seem to be leaving now. I worry about killing the beneficial bugs, I had some late blooming stuff like Caryopteris and Asters.

Jo Ann try some of the new Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit , they come in just about all colors and are seed varieties. They seem to have less issues then the tissue culture varieties at a cheaper cost.

Jo Ann, I grew Cheyenne Spirit from seed and one is very close to the color of Tiki Torch.

Thanks Bob and Arlene.I do love the echies,especially at this time of year.

I have two new ones coming from Bluestone, Flame Thrower and Secret Passion. Should arrive today!

I wish there were more seed varieties available. I had really good luck with the Pow Wow series.