Great thread everyone! I feel the same way and I am happy with my seed varieties but I am a little confused about some things. I was wanting to purchase a 'Solar Flare' I saw it listed on a nursery as a hybrid and also on a seed wedsite as 80% true to name from seed.
Also I noticed that not all are recommended for zones higher than 8 and I am on the edge. Sometimes I get zone 9 heat and sometimes zone 7 cold so I do not do zone 8 plants they always die.
Harvest Moon for example is recommended for zone 9 and maybe that is why it tolerates more heat. I saw that the Meteor Series Coneflower is good to zone 10 so they might be a good choice for the southern heat. Problem is I do not like them. :(
But...Echinacea 'Leilani', Julia, Hot Papaya, Hot Lava, Hot Coral, Hope, Daydream, Flame Thrower, Coral Reef, 'Colorburst Orange','CheyenneSpirit','Chiquita','HotLava','Irresistible','Lilliput','LittleAngel',MeteorSeries','MacCheese,''Magnus','Marmalade,''Maui Sunshine,'Echinacea paradoxa', 'Piccolino,''Pineapple Sundae','Prairie Frost','Purple Emperor','Quills & Thrills', 'Raspberry Tart','Secret Glow','Secret Love','Secret Passion',''Sunbird',Big Sky Series,'Supreme Cantaloupe,''Tangerine Dream','Tomato Soup','Vanilla Cupcake', and 'White Swan' all good to zone 9 or 10. Most of the ones I lost here in the south are only good to zone 8 and they all did well for my friends in the north.
Also I am seeing more and more coneflowers that are good to zone 10, but on the flip side these heat tolerant coneflowers might not do well in the North, even though they want you to believe there is a designer coneflower that can handle all types of weather from zone 3-10, I don't think so.
Also, NOT all nurseries and websites are truthful about the zones, Plants are just merchandise to some people and they exaggerate for the sake of marketing.
http://www.daytonnursery.com/e...
