I too had bought plants from HCG in the past. I got some of my Oriental poppies from them. I was satisfied. I haven't bought anything in the last couple years. LUCKY???? I bought a few stuff from Forestfarm also. I was pleased with their plants.
Added some new phlox last fall from Santa Rosa (thanks Susan). Hope they survived the cold winter. David and a few others does well here. Added the Mesa Yellow Gallardia last fall also. It is reported to bloom for up to 28 weeks depending on zone. I have had Loraine Sunshine Heliopsis for about four years now and it blooms for a long time for me also.

Love the tall phlox. I've given up on Echinacea here ... they go for a couple of years and then poop out.

Tee, I'm curious what varieties of Echinacea you've tried? Till last summer I'd only had the species, E.purpurea, the regular purple coneflower, that I started from seed. It's been going strong for about 5 years now. Last year I planted a couple of modern cultivars, and they bloomed nicely through the summer, but we'll see about their longevity.

My old purple coneflowers have been very long lived- like 20 years. Some of the newer vegetatively propagated ones are not very long lived for many gardeners, including me. Cheyenne Spirit is a recent release which I hope will do better. It can be grown from seed so, at least, if one is lost, it's not such an expensive loss. Seeds are pretty cheap. I started some last year and have another batch for this year.

Karen

Based on recomendations on ATP,I ordered Pow Wow series.

My plain old purple coneflowers have done the best here too and lasted the longest. The newer ones just did not last very long. Pow Wow didn't do well for me. Maybe for others.

Have any of you had the newer Echies revert? Last year at a garden center, the woman working there said a landscape designer had chosen some of the red/coral varieties, and the 2nd year they bloomed purple (and messed up the design she'd installed for a client). I would have thought that would only happen from seeds.

That was my first thought too, Neal. (i.e. the red plants died and volunteer purple ones popped up).

I lost a lot of my echs when we had a horrible drought (in 2012 I think). The bugs were awful, especially leafhoppers, and they spread aster yellows through my yard. I lost quite a few echs then, but that was the bug's fault, no the plant's.

Karen

They might do well for you, Jo Ann.

I started some Pow Wow Wild Berry from seed last year, too. They were very pretty. I hope they survive winter. This has been a brutal winter, so I expect some plant losses.

Karen

I heard that Green Envy reverts to pink. That is why I never bought one. I have had no luck with these newer cultivars but the Eastern Purple is an old reliable. I divided mine last year and it got mad at me and only one flower on each half. Looking forward to a better next year if it didn't rot over the winter. I had good luck with the PowWows, Pica Bella, Amazing Dream and Tennessee Coneflower' that I grew from seed.

I had Green Envy and you are right.The bloom starts green but as it matures it becomes more purple.
this was the last year I grew it 2010
july


august

I thought that's what Green Envy was supposed to do? I still like it, nice shape and mine was very prolific!

Not enough green for me.It didnt last here.

Arlene, do you have a picture? If it grows well for you I might try it after all. I had "Green Jewel", it got big right away but died last winter. I thought for sure it would come back, at the time it was the biggest and healthiest one and I am in zone 8 for crying out loud.



GREEN JEWEL

Green Envy is totally different from Green Jewel. It is much taller for one thing, and it just has hints of green, turning to pink. I can't seem to find a picture though, sorry.

Thats ok, thanks for letting me know. You say it is taller but does it flop when it blooms. PowWow White would get top heavy and I did use a peony ring.

Jo Ann

Last summer was my 3rd summer with both the Pow Wow Wild Berry and the White. They have both thrived in my garden and the color's have held very well.

This winter has been brutal, so we will see how they survived.

Carolyn: My new Pow Wow's come this spring.
Brutal freezing makes me nervous. We still have moooocho snow cover so its hard to see what plants might be emerging.

Those green Echinacea plants don't appeal to me at all. They look like diseased plants with Aster yellows to me. It's not fun growing something that reminds me of that.