Terese, I purchased white Swan but have not gotten it yet. Mine are all coming up and I am working on a new bed that will have better drainage, I blame myself for some of the problems. The bed was not draining well, too soggy and looks to me like a couple rotted. Hopefully it will be a good year for coneflowers. I got quite a few seedlings coming up and are ready to be potted, but I am some what overwhelmed, looks like I will just have to play favorites.

I think I lost 'Tomato Soup' again this year. I'm giving up on that one. But it could still surprise me and pop up. Who knows? I'm seeing numerous leaves for the rest of them and none in the spot where TS is/was.

Hot Papaya might be a better red. I have not heard good things about Tomato Soup, It was at the very top of my list at one time then it drifted down and off.

This would have been year 3 for my Hot Papaya. So far there's just one tiny shoot on one side of the plant. I think I'll be shovel pruning that one.

My other coneflowers are leafing out nicely, it's been so warm here. I have lots of regular purple coneflowers, White Swan, Milkshake, and Hot Summer. Hot Summer was new last year. It's looking small, but far more promising than Hot Papaya.

I had Twilight for about 4 years. I didn't die, but it didn't do much of anything. It only produced a few blossoms per year. Not worth having, IMO. I fed that one to the compost, too.

Karen

(compost)

I need to divide my purple, that multiplies so fast, one flower became fifty in one year. If only they all did that well.

Ach, I envy you all. Echinaceas and Gaillardias just don't do well in my little patch. Maybe I should put in a raised bed just for them and see what happens. From what was said here could be the drainage ain't swuft...

Great idea Debra!

Re: drainage: I have clay soil. But I have been amending it with my homemade compost for probably 25 years. I never have enough to do the whole yard, so it's it or miss on what gets compost from one year to the next.

Clay soil is notorious for poor drainage. Our normal rainfall is 41"/year. Last year we had 73"! An all-time record, more rain/snow that we'd ever had. So far, it looks like my echinaceas, except for Hot Papaya, fared well.

Some perennials haven't emerged yet, so time will tell if all that rain killed off anything else.

Karen

Good job, sounds like you made out pretty good considering.

As I said, some perennials haven't emerged yet- like Joe Pye and butterfly weed, but they're always late to wake up in spring. I'm not worried yet, but I will be disappointed if they didn't survive all the wet stuff.

Karen

Same here. Still waiting for those two to emerge.

Magnus has started growing here too. It is always a top performer. Every spring I transplant small seedlings to other parts of my gardens.

My seed starting effort (inside) with Pow Wow Wild Berry, Primadonna and Double Decker is slow going as far as growth goes. All the PWB's germinated, Primadonna and Double Decker 7 out of 9 germinated.

I'd love to get a pot of Hot Papaya or Milk Shake this year so we shall see what the local nurseries will be carrying.

Gave Joe Pye his very own thread here

The thread "Let's Talk about Joe Pye Weed!" in Cottage Gardening forum

Coneflower Sale!!

http://www.highcountrygardens....

you enabler you.....

I have a number of coneflowers: Double Decker have had for 4+ years, grows well but has never gotten a double flower. Sundown doing well. Green Jewel doing well. Hot Papaya looked bad at first but is looking much better now, did the same last year too. Marmalade, died after first year and replaced it last year, looks okay so far this year, hope it increases a little. Harvest Moon, have had that for 5 years or longer stays in a nice neat little clump. Pink Double Delight, have had for several years, by the second year it increased into a large beautiful clump. Vintage Wine, died after first year and replaced it last year. It looks okay so far. White Mist, have had for 4+ years stays in a small but beautiful clump. Coconut Lime, 4+ years, does very well and stays true to color. Green Jewel, 4+ years doing well, however, pretty sure it has reseeded itself (even though I try to avoid that), I get a variety of colors from it now. Fancy Frills remains a small clump over the years, is always the very last to bloom. White Swan is no longer white, became a light pink with a few almost white petals. PowWow Wild Berry does great. PowWow White struggles. New to my gardens this year are, Solar Flare and Avalanche. Regarding seeds: I'm no expert by a long shot but I too have heard the seeds from these hybrids won't come back "true". I tested it, by sowing seeds in the fall, (with Twilight) and it grew to look like the standard purple coneflower only quite a bit shorter. Hot Papaya reseeded itself and surprisingly it looked very much like the original...maybe just a little lighter in color and a little shorter.

Marmalade didn't make it here. Harvest Moon and Hot Papaya are coming back for the third year. Ruby Giant and Raspberry Truffles are, too, as well as the NOID tagged as just Purpurea.