I have a beautiful echinacea seedling blooming, and I think it is stunning! I would have to say that it came from Tangerine Dream, since it is growing right next to it. I have a couple other seedlings next to it as well. One is pink, with basically the same form as Tangerine Dream, and the other is yellow, and a bit further away. Not too far from Tangerine Dream, maybe 3 feet, is Prairie Splendor, so maybe that is where the pollen came from. I have a couple of seedlings growing right next to Prairie Splendor, and they are nothing to brag about, and both are pink. About 15 feet or so away and around the corner, I have Hot Summer growing. I'm still waiting on seedlings to bloom from that one. Then about 30 feet or so away I have Double Decker growing. I imagine that the pollen could have come from any of those, but the likely candidate would be Prairie Splendor, because it is so close.
I'd love to gather some seeds from the seedling, but I know that it will probably have mixed pollen on it. Is there any way to stop that from happening? I suppose I could move it, but I'm afraid to lose it at this point. Maybe I'll work on that next year, and I need to know how far I should move it for a good chance of getting seeds that aren't cross pollinated, if possible. In the meantime, is there anything I can do to keep it from getting cross pollinated? That's probably a stupid question, but I know nothing about the plant, other than I have them growing in my yard.
Here are a couple of pictures of it. I just love it!
