stunning addition to the 2012 garden:
deep pink/fuchsia quilled petals that are also upturned!!
Pure WOW.
Short too ~ less than 18" tall ~ making it a great "front-of-the-border" coneflower.
The second of only two "quilled" blooms in this garden ~ the first was Rudbeckia 'Henry Eilers' (added last year: )
Also an exceptional full sun perennial ~ reaching 5' in my garden (seen in foreground of photo below)
I usually end up gathering & tying 'Henry' to the birdhouse tuteur as he has a (bad??) habit of flopping.
Both were perfect perennials for the summer we've had ~ seemingly unaffected by the record breaking heat ~ 73 days above 90 degrees (so far) when normal is only 33 days that hot!
Heat and drought resistance will be necessary traits for all new additions if this hot/dry trend continues.....
Great additions to your garden! Love them both.
Posted by: Janet, The Queen of Seaford | September 11, 2012 at 07:31 PM
A shorter echinacea would be a great garden asset.You have done a great job of capturing the glowing beauty of the flower's center. This rudbeckia is also pretty. I have two different varieties already and this might be a nice third.
Posted by: Jennifer | September 12, 2012 at 04:06 PM
Echinaceas are one of the diehards that will be welcome in my garden at any time. But I've found the "fancy" ones to be less than hardy, and will be sticking with the traditional from now on. I hope yours returns for you over and over again!
Posted by: RobinL | September 13, 2012 at 05:23 PM
Let's hope the trend doesn't continue but was just a fluke. But if it does, at least you have some stellar plants to keep the garden looking glamorous.
Posted by: Grace | September 15, 2012 at 10:57 PM
I've tried a few of the newer echinaceas but can't seem to get them to take hold so all we have are purple and white. Yours are lovely. It has been one long hot summer hasn't it?
Posted by: Victoria | September 16, 2012 at 02:28 PM