Another hybrid coneflower (echinacea) that enticed me at the garden centers this spring was ‘Cheyenne Spirit’. It can be grown from seed and still bloom the first year, and it’s highly decorated. The cultivar won both a Fleuroselect Gold Medal and an All-America Selection award.
I bought plants at the garden center instead of starting them from seed. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ blooms in many colors including orange, red, yellow, purple, pink and cream. My plants had buds but no open flowers, so I was gambling on the colors. I planted two together in the backyard and one alone in the front yard.
The ones in the backyard bloomed first:
It appeared the flowers would be golden-yellow, but the petals stayed very short. As the petals aged they dropped, and their color changed to cream:
Soon the partner plant started blooming in an orange-red color with semi-droopy petals:
Several weeks later the petals had dropped further and took on a pinkish hue:
Meanwhile, the lone plant in the front yard opened with long peachy-gold petals. So far they haven’t dropped, but the flowers have only been open for a couple of days.
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ grows 18 to 30 inches tall. The plants prefer full sun, but they’ll have settle for part-sun in my yard.
I have seen some really cool photos showing a mass of ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ plants blooming together in their various colors. I would be tempted to try it if not for the fact that the plant is only hardy in Zones 5-9. I’ll wait to see how they perform and if they survive winter, and then maybe I’ll consider starting a little ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ gang.