Wow, campers! Where did the year go? With early snows carpeting the country, it gives us pause. Time to plan the plot! You’ve heard me comment on the innovation that Terra Nova brings to the fray. Today we’re going to introduce you to our latest entries of the Delightful™ series of coneflowers.
The more research that is put into the eco-consciousness realm, the more we can appreciate the role Echinacea have to appease pollinators. Not just honeybees and butterflies, which are most abundant whilst they are in bloom, but hoverflies, and hundreds of native bees and wasps!
With prairie-tested cold tolerance, Echinacea also tolerate a wide variety of soils from sandy to clayish. Humidity tolerance and heat tolerance are built into these plants using parents like Echinacea tennesseensis and Texan species that thrive on heat. These hybrids bloom later than most perennials and more prolifically. If you remember the original E. ‘Magnus’ and E. ‘White Swan’ you might get nine flowers on a first-year plant. New plants bred by Terra Nova produce hundreds of flowers up till frost. That’s “True Value.”
At Terra Nova, we don’t just copy another company’s plants. We use our brains. We create. We revolutionize perennials and reinvent new annuals and houseplants. Yes, dear campers, you smart people are reading this article to collect the news on the fresh, and we have it. Let’s see some Delightful™ new intros!
Our catalog, linked below, is an informative tome. Have you ever downloaded it? You will learn of the ways of our breeding and witness the remarkable introductions we have introduced over the last thirty-three years. Besides, there’s a lot of groovy pictures, container combos and especially gigantic installations in Australia and China that use our plants on a huge scale.
Come explore these three remarkable offerings by the ORIGINAL innovators: Terra Nova™.
Echinacea DELIGHTFUL™ 'Garnet'
A very bright, ruby-garnet colored coneflower with a scent of honey and sweetness. Compact, bowl-shaped habit is one of the hallmarks of the DELIGHTFUL™ collection. Excellent for container culture and gorgeous in flower beds. Attracts butterflies, honeybees, and other pollinator insects. Deep, pine-green foliage is the perfect foil for this plant. Bred for the pot crop market but will perform right at the border’s edge with masses of colorful blooms. Did very well in our full sun trials with minimal care, EDG’s foliage stayed perfect and maintained perfection everywhere it was planted. This plant was a star and boasted thirty-two flowers on a cold-treated plug. Hardy in USDA zones four to nine. The garnet flowers on burgundy stems grow to fourteen inches high in a dense habit, fourteen inches wide by eight inches high. Full sun is great, and you can expect blooms from June to October!
An extremely bright, sunny, double yellow flower that just radiates sunshine. Superb habit and great vigor give this DELIGHTFUL™ a lasting place in the garden or containers. Deep emerald-green foliage right down to the base. Like all of the Delightful™ series these are bred for the pot crop market but will perform right at the border’s edge with masses of colorful blooms. Did very well in our full sun trials with minimal care. This plant was a standout against other double yellow forms and boasted masses of bright gold flowers on a cold-treated plug. Hardy in USDA zones four to nine. The golden flowers on deep green stems grow to fifteen inches high in a dense habit, fifteen inches wide by nine inches high. Full sun is great, and you can expect blooms from June to October! A favorite for butterflies and other pollinators. Fragrant, too!
Bred for the pot crop market. A delicious blend of orange, mango, and ruby grapefruit! DELIGHTFUL™ denotes a naturally compact stature for use in garden, pots, and mixed containers. Sweetly scented, and a wonderful pollinator attractor. Fully double flowers are long lasting and hold their color exceptionally well. Like all of the Delightful™ series these are bred for the pot crop market but will perform right at the border’s edge with masses of colorful blooms. This did great in our full sun trials with minimal care. This plant was a standout against other double orange forms and boasted masses of bright gold flowers on a cold-treated plug. Hardy in USDA zones four to nine. The apricotty flowers on deep green stems grow to sixteen inches high in a dense habit, sixteen inches wide by twelve inches high. Full sun is great, and you can expect blooms from June to October! A favorite for butterflies.
Dan Heims is an award-winning author who lectures throughout the world. He was recently honored by The American Horticultural Society with the Luther Burbank Breeding Award, as well as the Perennial Plant Association’s Award of Merit. He was also honored in receiving the Royal Horticultural Society’s Reginald Cory Cup for advancements in breeding. A 2025 Silver Laurel Award was granted by GardenComm International for Terra Nova’s unusual 2025 Commercial Catalog.
You may contact Dan at [email protected] Questions on culture and care or availability for a speaking engagement can be had at this email.
All articles are copyrighted and remain the property of the author.
By Natalie Carmolli, Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
Photographs courtesy of Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
We can add a pop of pink to existing gardens or mix deep pink flowers with mid-to-pale pinks to make a gorgeous monochromatic garden statement. To learn more Click here for an interesting article.
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