Plant Patent 21,022.

The most exciting Echinacea of the season is this dramatic double-flowered orange, a stunning creation from master plantsman Arie Blom. The flowers are large, packed with fade-proof color, and held in a bold "skirted pompon" look that is interesting in its own right. And what's more, the plant is vigorous, long-blooming, and very floriferous, with up to ten blooms present at once when mature!

Mixed in with the fiery brick-orange petals are flashes of deep pink and lilac, plus golds and yellows. The lower guard petals (the "skirt") is a slightly lighter shade, exactly matching the center of the cone at the top of the flower. Fully 3 to 3½ inches wide, these are blooms that hold up for much more than a week, indoors or out. Leave the final flowers on the plant and the seeds will dry in the large central cone, providing an autumn feast for the songbirds in your garden. More than a decade of breeding was dedicated to this stunning double orange Echinacea, and its pedigree shows.

'Hot Papaya' reaches 30 to 36 inches high and spreads 24 to 30 inches wide, for a dazzling display in the sunny border. Like other Echinacea, it is a very robust and adaptable perennial. Bred from multiple species, it is disease- and pest-resistant, standing up effortlessly to heat, humidity, poor soil, drought, and other natural phenomena. All it asks is plenty of sunshine and well-drained moist to dry soil.

Plant 'Hot Papaya' fearlessly among other Echinacea, as well as among other heat- and drought-tolerant perennials in the sunny garden. Be sure to grow a few extra in the cutting garden as well, to show off the majesty of these flowers indoors as well as out! Zones 4-9.