Echinacea 'Hot Summer'

ëHot Summer is an upright coneflower whose flowers (each to 4 1/2\ diameter) change color as they age. Downward-arching ray flowers open yellow-orange but gradually mature to orange and finally deep red, resulting in an often large number of different flower colors appearing on the same plant at the same time. 'Hot Summer' typically grows in a clump to 30-36\" tall and to 16\" wide on sturdy, well-branched stems that do not need staking. Flowers bloom from late spring to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost. Flowers are fragrant. Medium green leave... more »

ëHot Summer is an upright coneflower whose flowers (each to 4 1/2\ diameter) change color as they age. Downward-arching ray flowers open yellow-orange but gradually mature to orange and finally deep red, resulting in an often large number of different flower colors appearing on the same plant at the same time. 'Hot Summer' typically grows in a clump to 30-36\" tall and to 16\" wide on sturdy, well-branched stems that do not need staking. Flowers bloom from late spring to late summer, sometimes with additional sporadic bloom until frost. Flowers are fragrant. Medium green leaves (to 7î long) are narrow-ovate. Good fresh cut or dried flower. The dead flower stems will remain erect well into the winter, and if flower heads are not removed, the blackened cones may be visited by goldfinches or other birds that feed on the seeds. 'Hot Summer' was discovered in 2007 as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation (parentage unknown) in a breeding program conducted by Marco van Noor in Warmond, The Netherlands. Echinacea comes from the Greek word ìechinosî meaning hedgehog in reference to the spiny center cone found on most flowers in the genus. U. S. Plant Patent PP20,687 was issued on January 26, 2010." (less)