I purchased a packet of Echinacea purpurea seeds from Burpee seeds about two years ago. This year they've started to bloom but I can't help but notice that some of these Purple Coneflowers are different from the rest. Some blooms on the same plant have normal flowers or contorted flower petals and some like the one above have no flower petals at all.Could this be a sport or was there a mix up somewhere along the line? I'm trying to remember if perhaps I traded some 'Doubledecker' seeds and these distorted blooms are an offspring. But I can't remember ever trying them from seeds because 'Doubledecker' is a sport and sports are propagated vegetatively and not by seeds. I even have some E. 'Doubledecker' and while none are as nice as the ones I see in photos they don't exhibit cones without petals.
Anyone have any clues?
Looks interesting. I have never seen anything like it. Maybe someone will know.
ReplyDeleteHow strange...unless it's some sort of fasciation?
ReplyDeleteVery good question. I did a post a couple of days ago showing some odd echinaceas at my friend's nursery (it looked like Big Sky Sunrise gone hippy!) and he has some other strange things happening with some of the plants he ordered in. So we have a mystery on our hands. I'm going to look into this further and see what I can find out from breeders.
ReplyDeleteHi Curtis, Ruth and Jodi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking a moment and visiting. Jodi I saw your and got your e-mail. Thanks for the info...I'm going to do some reading on Aster Yellow and see if I can get someone at Burpee to look at the pic and see what they say.