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Echinacea ‘Sundown’PPAF, another variety in the amazing Big Sky™ series, is a bright orange coneflower with bushy, basal clumps and multiple stems showing off large - 3½ to 4" - flowers. This wonderful, vigorous perennial is a most prolific bloomer!
This exciting new selection has flower heads that are a little smaller than its sister hybrid ‘Sunset’ (also with orange colored flowers). But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in quantity. Once the plants are established and growing well, they are literally covered in masses of blooms. The vibrancy of this unusual color is quite stunning. Bright, coral-orange, daisy-like blooms positively beam warmth and excitement with this exhilarating new color breakthrough. The broad petals overlap and are centered around a striking, russet-brown, central cone, which is of course is where the common name, coneflower, comes from.
Common is most certainly not a term to be used with this highly unusual coneflower. Along with the breakthrough in color comes a robust growth habit, delightful fragrance, and profuse flowering ability that make this new coneflower a unique, must have for everyone's garden.
Growing to about 2½ -3' tall and about 18" or so wide, Echinacea ‘Sundown’PPAF is marvelous for placing as an accent plant among other lower growing plants. The upright stems and imposing flowers provide valuable height and give tremendous emphasis to a display. In larger sites where space allows, it can be massed to produce a grand effect. It has real "flower power" and the combined effect of several plants all grouped together makes a wonderful visual impact.
When selecting a planting site, try to find a prominent location. A place that is within full view of windows, doorways, or seating areas is a great choice because as well as having outstanding color, the big, flat, nectar rich heads are magnets for butterflies. And the sweet fragrance is such a joy to experience on a warm summer's day!
Just like the other coneflowers, Echinacea ‘Sundown’PPAF is also great for cutting and bringing indoors. The flowers last well in water. The strong rigid stems are easy to arrange. Because each plant has lots of flowering stems, it's perfectly possible to snip a few every now and then without affecting the outdoor bloom too much.
Echinacea ‘Sundown’PPAF is easy to grow. All it needs is a sunny site, well drained soil, and a little basic information. Just follow the instructions on the tags and on the coneflowers part of our website, and you won't go wrong. It is hardy to Zone 5. Once your new plants are well rooted and established in their new homes, they are remarkably tolerant of drought, summer heat, and humidity.
They commence flowering around early summer. If the spent flower heads are removed as they begin to fade, it will keep flowering through the rest of the summer and continue well into autumn.
Towards the end of the summer, think about leaving a few fading heads for small birds to peck. The seed heads provide a valuable source of food and it is also fun to watch the activity.
Richard Saul, the breeder of these Big Sky Series™ coneflowers, has spent the last 10 years exploring the potential that he knew lay within the hybridization of two native coneflower species.
His keen eye, coupled with his extensive plant knowledge and the vision of what it takes to create outstanding new varieties, prompted him to combine the large bloom qualities, free flowering ability, the vigor and general robustness of Echinacea purpurea with the cast iron hardiness, tough resilience, and color opportunities presented in crosses with Echinacea paradoxa.
After several years of patient hybridization, careful selection, and exhaustive testing, he introduced his first two hybrids, Echinacea ‘Sunrise’ and Echinacea ‘Sunset’. They quickly caught the attention of dedicated and novice gardeners alike. Despite the short time since their introduction, they have become a big seller and deservedly are now moving up the popularity polls to become ranked among some of the most significant perennial breeding achievements in living memory.
Not content to rest on his laurels (or perhaps I should say coneflowers), Richard continued to work on this gene pool, inter-crossing the best of his selected hybrids. He picked out this seedling because he was impressed with its heavy blooming capability, calling it "very profuse" in its flowering ability. In fact, he thinks so much of it that he registered it for a plant patent using the name of one of his sons - Evan Saul.
Echinacea 'Evan Saul' PPAF, or ‘Sundown’PPAF as it will become more popularly known, is an exciting new introduction that we are now releasing for the very first time. It is a new plant and, as such, comes with a little bit of underlying uncertainty that, frankly, can only be verified with time. However, judging by the success, popularity, and undeniable strengths and benefits of its sister hybrids, we believe that Echinacea ‘Sundown’PPAF too will become a truly outstanding new variety and one that is worthy of an honored place in our Garden Splendor® line up. It is with pride and pleasure that we now introduce it to you for your consideration.
We have every confidence that it will prove to become one of the best new perennials to be introduced this year. Please stop by our garden center at your soonest opportunity and see for yourself why Echinacea ‘Sundown’PPAF and the other Garden Splendor® plants are "Plants worth Remembering"™.
Until next time, remember.... Enjoy your gardening. It's good for you!
