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Echinacea ‘Sunrise’
Echinacea ‘Sunset’
You might hear the words 'Sunrise, Sunset' and immediately think about that humble tailor, Tevya. Maybe you're even humming the words to yourself right now and wanting to shout Tradition! But there's nothing traditional about this exciting new variety of echniacea from the hands of master hybridizer Richard Saul (ItSaul Plants - Alpharetta, George). It's a whole new era of coneflowers!
Now, you too can be a Rich Man, rich in the color and beauty of these exhilarating new coneflowers. This series of hybrid echinaceas brings us:
The emergence of the Big Sky Series™, as they are collectively called, has awakened a renewed interest in these highly desirable perennials. There is a new horizon of colorful reliability – all built upon the tough, rugged constitution of their prairie and Ozark mountain parent species.
Echinacea ‘Sunrise’ PPAF is a stately beauty with large, 4-5 inch wide, daisy-like blooms. The broad, overlapping petals reveal a glorious shade of citron yellow, gradually lightening to shades of softer lemon chiffon as they mature. The petals radiate outward from a striking central cone that also changes. Starting out green, and maturing to golden-amber, it forms the perfect focal point to display the petals which expand and slightly reflex, giving extra substance and a sense of fullness, adding to the overall presence of this exciting variety.
Echinacea ‘Sunset’ PPAF is a majestic beauty with large 4½ -5 inch, vibrant orange daisy-like blooms that positively beam out warmth and exhilaration in the garden. The wide, overlapping and slightly reflexed petals are centered around a striking fire-brick red to russet-brown colored central cone. These big, strong, fortified looking flowers make tremendous impact. And there's lots of them too, for further down the stems, above the lush basal rosette of leafy green foliage comes lots of side-flower buds that, as they develop, add to the sheer abundance to blooms borne by this exciting variety.
Growing about 2½ to 3 feet tall, the big, full, dramatic flowers are prominently displayed on stout, rigid stems that are almost as thick as your little finger. This hybrid vigor means that this is a sturdy variety that doesn't need fussing with. There's no need to stake or tie in these beauties. They are easy to grow and, once established, remarkably tolerant of drought, heat and humidity.
They are also very hardy, probably even hardier than our current listing of Zone 5. But until we have extended testing to determine the exact level of winter hardiness, we conservatively rate them at this level, knowing that they are at least hardy enough for the vast majority of Garden Splendor® gardeners in our area.
While we take a conservative view on the hardiness, we can say with confidence that this variety has a tremendous future. Inheriting their considerable qualities from tough, uncompromising, native species, they are really easy to grow and maintain. Just plant them in a sunny site, in a soil that is well-drained and reasonably fertile, follow the planting and watering instructions on the back of our tags, and you will find that Echinacea ‘Sunrise’ and Echinacea ‘Sunset’ will shine again and again, beaming years of sunny pleasure in your garden.
Amazingly, the flowers on each are also very fragrant. The sweet, distinctive, yet not overpowering fragrance is described by some as rose-like, while others discern a sweetly spicy bouquet. The fragrance is definitely there in abundance. It is most pronounced on warm sunny afternoons and early evenings.
Echinacea ‘Sunrise’ and Echinacea ‘Sunset’, like most of the older varieties of coneflowers, are wonderful for cutting and including in floral decorations. The dramatically bold blooms are great for focusing attention and forming the centerpiece to all sorts of arrangements. The soft color is easy to work with and combines superbly well with most tones. They go especially well with blues, silvers, whites, and greens, or other warmer shades of yellow, amber, gold, and orange. Under normal room conditions, they will last about a week if harvested when at the half open stage. They have been known to last 7 to 10 days in cooler surroundings.
Outside, in the garden, they are absolutely terrific in beds and mixed borders. They look superb in raised beds, sloping banks, cottage gardens, and wild flower areas, too.
This new series is one of those plants that fits in well and blends comfortably in almost every situation. In smaller sites, they are impressive when planted as single specimens or in small groupings. Where space allows they are incredibly effective when set in big, massed plantings. The combined beauty of the brightly colored flowers, flitting butterflies, and delicious, wafting fragrance is truly stunning!
Richard Saul, the hybridizer, says that it was his love of plants, and his interest in plant breeding, that inspired him to explore the potential of 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, vigor and general robustness of Echinacea purpurea (commonly known as ‘Purple Coneflower’ or ‘Eastern Purple Coneflower’) with the cast iron hardiness and tough tenacity of Echinacea paradoxa (commonly called ‘Yellow Coneflower’ or ‘Bush's Purple Coneflower’). Spurred on by an early success with Echinacea ‘Paranoia’ (a dwarf, sterile, yellow flowered hybrid that he raised and released in collaboration with his charismatic friend, Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery), Richard realized that hybrids made from this cross would not only combine these qualities, but would unlock a whole new exciting range of stunning colors, too.
He began his program in 1996. After several years of careful selection and exhaustive testing, he introduced this exceptional variety to rave reviews. Astute Garden Splendor® devotees snapped up the first limited release of this variety last year (2005) when we featured it as a Garden Splendor® Introduction.
Reports received from our many gardening friends throughout our area have been impressive. This enthusiastic feedback has encouraged us to have them available in larger quantities, and elevate its status to become part of our highly respected Garden Splendor® line, this year. It is with pride and pleasure that we now let you know about it, via this article.
Echinacea ‘Sunrise’ and Echinacea ‘Sunset’ are, without a doubt, some of the best new perennials to hit the gardening scene. We will have them available at our garden center in mid to late June, so be sure to come in and secure your plants early, before we sell out again!
Until next time, remember.... Enjoy your gardening. It's good for you!
