Another hybrid Coneflower in the Big Sky™ series from Richard Saul of ItSaul Plants in Atlanta, Georgia. Like its siblings ('Sunset', 'Sunrise', and 'Twilight'), 'Sundown' is fragrant. It also adds vibrant orange to the color palette of these vigorous, hardy perennials. 'Sundown' produces blooms for weeks on multi-branched stems and makes an excellent cut flower. (evan Saul) PP 17,659.

Echinacea, a North American genus in the Daisy family, has big, bright flowers that appear in late June and keep coming into September. Plants thrive in average soils or hot, dry conditions, shrug off cold, and are equally at home in full sun or partial shade. Blooms last well as cut or dried flowers, and the large cone at the heart of the flower head turns black as the seeds mature, adding further interest and providing nourishment for goldfinches. Coneflower, E. purpurea, is a rugged species native from Iowa and Ohio south to Louisiana and Georgia and a great garden plant everywhere in between.