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Echinacea (purple Coneflower) Breeding Programs The cultivar groups listed in the previous article on Echinacea taxonomy highlight most of the traits that modern breeders are selecting for. Breeders are extending the color palette, selecting for wide, erect petals, and double flowered plants. The new Echinacea hybrids are often very sweetly scented unlike the typical Echinacea purpurea. In addition, breeders are looking for hybrids that are easier to grow and tolerate wet feet better. Echinacea breeder Dr. Jim Ault suggests that the following ornamental and production traits be selected for: • bloom the first year from seed • overcome self-infertility to produce homozygous (inbred) lines • sweet fragrance • compact sturdy stems • increase the flower color palette • create several petal orientations (drooping, horizontal, erect) • double flowers • disease and insect resistance • greater tolerance to wet soils and shade • combine the heat and cold tolerance of the different species. Currently, the heredity patterns of these important traits are not fully understood. However, the white flower color trait appears to be a recessive trait to the dominant magenta color. The exact shade of magenta (light or dark) appears to be genetically complex. As breeders continue to work with the genus, they will be able to figure out how manipulate the traits to meet their needs. The important traits come from different wild species. Very deep colors (magenta, dark purple, reddish-purple) can be found in some individuals of Echinacea simulata, Echinacea atrorubens, and Echinacea sanguinea. However, there are a wide range of purple/pink colors in most of the species. The color white can be found in several of the species but the color yellow can only be found in Echinacea paradoxa. Echinacea paradoxa also blooms very early in the season which would be a valuable trait in hybrids. Most of the species have a mild scent, but Echinacea simulata has a particularly strong scent. Unfortunately, it is not very showy. Echinacea laevigata has a very long stem which could be used to produce very tall flowers for the cut flower market or the back of the border. It is also very heat and humidity tolerant, but unfortunately it is very susceptible to aster-yellows. Echinacea atrorubens can provide a large seed head for seed production or novelty flower types. Unfortunately it has short, recurved petals and is not very cold hardy. Echinacea tennesseensis is unique in that it has upward facing petals which can be used to improve flower architecture. Its hybrid offspring also tend to be compact and floriferous. Echinacea angustifolia hybrids have large flowers with wide petals, are more compact, drought tolerant, have better cold tolerance and are resistant to aster-yellows. Echinacea angustifolia var. strigosa is more highly branched than other species, has broader flowers with a darker color. Unfortunately, Echinacea angustifolia is very difficult to grow because it is sensitive to over watering. Breeders interested in tetraploid (4x=44) forms for larger flowers, more robust leaves, and the ability to make sterile triploids, can use Echinacea angustifolia var. strigosa or Echinacea pallida. Echinacea pallida has very long petals that are unfortunately also very thin and reflexed. Echinacea purpurea has the best shade tolerance, and tolerance of wet soils. Its fibrous root system makes it the easiest to grow in a commercial production environment and to transplant into the garden. It is unfortunately susceptible to aster-yellows. Not all interspecies crosses produce improved offspring. Some hybrids (e.g., Echinacea paradoxa × Echinacea tennesseensis) are nearly sterile, which is a dead end for a breeder. Others (e.g., Echinacea purpurea × Echinacea tennesseensis) remain very fertile. Prior to 1968, nobody had ever documented interspecies crosses within the genus Echinacea. That year, Ronald McGregor published a monograph of the genus Echinacea which was the first to report the possibility of interspecies crosses. However, nobody used this knowledge until Dr. Jim Ault of Chicago Botanic Garden read it in 1995 and selected the genus for his native plant breeding program. There are 4 modern breeders who are responsible for the majority of the recent breakthroughs in color, size, and form. Dr. Jim Ault of Chicago Botanic Garden is using Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea paradoxa and Echinacea tennesseensis to create drought tolerance, dwarf habits, heavy flowering, erect petals, and novel color forms (Meadowbrite Series). Many of the breakthrough colors of the last 10 years stem from his work. Similarly, Richard Saul of ItSaul Nursery in Georgia is using Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea paradoxa to create novel color forms with increased fragrance (Big Sky Series). Dan Heims of Terra Nova Nurseries in Oregon is also breeding hard (with Echinacea that is) with a focus on rich, non-fading colors. Arie Blom of the Dutch nursery AB-Cultivars, has taken the lead in double flowered forms. Nearly every double on the market comes from his breeding program. He has created anemone-flowered doubles in many colors including pink, white, yellow, and orange. A few other gardeners and breeders deserve an honorable mention including the Dutch flower grower Jan van Winsen, Dutch garden designer and plant breeder Piet Oudolf, and Kim Hawks, formerly of Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. These people have released important purple coneflowers. These folks should be commended for their wonderful work. Plant Delights Nursery is happy to offer some of their best Echinacea cultivars for sale and Juniper Level Botanic Garden displays many of these fine selections.
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