I think many gardeners oscillate between loving and hating coneflowers—I know I do. It's a phenomenon I've observed for nearly 20 years. I was there at the turn of the millennium when the humble coneflower had its breakout moment as Orange Meadowbrite~R, the first orange-flowered selection, was introduced by the Chicago Botanic Garden. The excitement for the veritable rainbow of colors and whimsical double-flowered forms that followed was contagious and sparked a coneflower craze that most of us gotcaught up in.Unfortunately, a few too many misfires or outright duds over the years irritated gardeners, inciting a backlash against coneflowers. Without a doubt, the first colorful hybrids were remarkable though sometimes flawed innovations, but I believe that laterbreeding is far superior to much of the early stuff. With that in mind, this coneflower trial takes a look at newer introductions to this genus—measuring them against the gold standards we've come to know and love from our first coneflower trial in the 1990s. Hopefully our findings will encourage gardeners, especially disillusioned ones, to take a fresh look at coneflowers.
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