Echinacea Varieties: Varieties with Unusual Flower Colors

<p>Five years ago, it would have been difficult to even consider the thought of a tomato-colored echinacea. But ‘Tomato Soup’ is red, with the sass and blossom power to make it a garden<br />
favorite. Norris has grown it for several years and absolutely loves it. In his garden, it’s proven reliable and vigorous, and it’ll blow away your friends with its intense color. <br />
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If you have a tomato-colored coneflower, it follows that you might also need an orange one. ‘Tiki Torch’ blazes in the summer garden. It’s one of the few newer echinaceas that has returned for a second season at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Color? Pure, construction-sign orange. For another orange variety with a softer color, try ‘Evan Saul’ (distributed as ‘Sundown’). Avent says it’s been a “really good long-term performer” in his trials. <br />
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For more midsummer excitement, try ‘Mac ‘n’ Cheese’. Its sharp orange-yellow flowers–the color of a block of processed cheddar–are blatant enough to stand up to the aquamarine of a midsummer sky. <br />
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For a subtler yellow, try ‘Sunrise’. Its flowers open lemon and fade–depending on the intensity of light–to various shades of butter and cream. It combines well with many other perennials and has a record of good garden performance. “There’s really nothing else in that color range,” Avent says. He also says the plant “has really good vigor.”</p>
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<em>Caleb Melchior studies landscape architecture at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. When not working in the studio, he writes about food and works in the garden.</em>
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<p>Click here for the main article, <a href=”https://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/echinacea-varieties-19-cutting-edge-coneflowers.aspx”>
<strong>Echinacea Varieties: 19 Cutting-Edge Coneflowers</strong>
</a>.</p>