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Two first-year plants, flowering out of sync with their older brethren, in late October

Offspring from 'Doppleganger' Common name purple coneflower Family asteraceae Life cycle perennial Flowers purple Size 3-4 ft Light full sun Cultural notes not fussy, drought-tolerant From seed Self-seeds in our garden. For starting indoors, give two months cold, then germinate at room temperature. detailed seed-starting info below Seed ripens late October Native prairie plant. Cone-shaped flowers fade to black seed heads which persist into fall - birds love them! Through the years we've tried several named varieties, purchased as plants from nurseries - and even more seed-grown varieties, sprouted from seeds labeled with their parents' names. Unfortunately, those seeds seldom come true, so for the most part we just have a whole bunch of purple coneflowers that are different in ways too subtle to notice (see the different flower shapes in the photo at top right). One exception is offspring from 'Doppleganger' (also marketed as 'Double Decker'); in their third season in our garden, our plants are indeed sprouting some silly petals from the central cone. Not a thing of great beauty, but OK as curiosities go. The real thing is undoubtedly more attractive.

We haven't tried any of the new hybrid echinaceas with orangey-salmony colors, so I was surprised to see this bloom in an area where plain purple ones previously grew. A welcome mutation or natural hybrid.

We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston.

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Seed-starting details for this plant

2006. Seed for 'Doppleganger' from '05 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (60%G, 7-11d)
2007. Seed for 'Doppleganger' from '05 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (90%G, 3d)
      Seed for 'Sunset' from '06 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (100%G, 4d)
      Seed for 'Vintage Wine' from '06 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (100%G, 4-7d)
      Seed for 'Kim's Mophead' from '06 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (80%G, 4d)
2008. Seed for 'Double Decker' from '06 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (94%G, 3-8d)
      Seed for 'Vintage Wine' from '06 trade. Baggy 35F (8w) - 70F (54%G, 3-7d)

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