Razzmatazz
‘Razzmatazz’ echinacea
I hadn’t seen a ‘Razzmatazz’ blossom in my garden for a couple of years. But this afternoon I noticed one struggling up through the Texas betony in the back garden.
My mom had sent ‘Razzmatazz’ to me as a gift, knowing how much I love coneflowers. I’d first tried it in the sunny front garden, but it bloomed only one season and didn’t try again. So I moved it to the back, where there’s more shade, but it still didn’t perform. I’m guessing its return this year is due to our unusually cool, wet spring.
I’ve lost a couple of new, yellow echinaceas as well. Perhaps the new varieties are just too fussy to make it in my hot, generally dry garden.
Oh well. Whenever I need summer yellow, I can rely on ‘Wilson’s Yellow’ daylily, cozying up here with Texas betony and a golden-yellow pot.
And Carol wanted to know what hats other gardeners wear while gardening, so here you go, Carol. On the right, my well-used, crushable, straw gardening hat. It’s long since lost any stylishness, but it’s comfy and keeps the sun off my face and neck.
In the middle, my new floppy, blue hat, which I wore during Gardens on Tour in May.
On the left, my trusty, old cowgirl hat, which I occasionally garden in. I always get lots of compliments on this hat, which I have worn to watch soccer games, to play putt-putt, to go boating on the lake, on garden tours, to the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, to the Round Top antique weekend—anywhere I’m spending time out in the sun.
All of them leave me with hat hair, but living in Texas I wouldn’t go hatless in the summer for love or money . . . or good hair.
Pam… a very nice trio of gardening hats, and of course, a cowboy hat because you are in Texas after all!
I really like that “Razzmatazz” coneflower. I just have common ol’ coneflowers and never was tempted by any varieties, until now that I see this one. I want it! I’m adding it to my list!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens Where It Was Hot Like Texas Today
I hope you have better luck with it than I have, Carol. But it certainly is lovely and worth trying. —Pam
hello ,it is the first time that i visit your blog ,i love the beautuful ,wonderful picture s you made,you ve got lovely flowers in the garden ! i love garden as much as you do ,aldo my blog is in dutch(i come from holland)will you take a look at my blog as well? my blog is called http://www.tuinfreakina130260.web-log.nl (the coming week i m on holiday in greece (zakynthos) bye bye ina p
Hello, Ina. Thanks for your kind words. I just visited your blog and enjoyed all your pinks as well. I’ll be sure to visit again. Enjoy your Greek holiday. —Pam
Hi Pam, I’m with Ina – a newbie visitor and admirer (gorgeous pics)! And with Carol – I was skeptical of Razzmatazz right up until I saw your picture! It doesn’t strike me as freakish anymore… And I’m on the hunt for a replacement cowboy hat – if I wanted a tennis visor I’d have no problem, but finding a kicky cowgirl hat in RI is a different difficulty altogether! I hope you find time to check out my blog too – I don’t write about my own garden because there’s no there there yet but I’m trying to get the word out about the public garden I work in.
-kris at Blithewold
Hi, Kris, and thanks for visiting! I’ll be sure to check out your Blithewold blog too. Good luck finding a cowboy hat in Rhode Island. It sounds like you might need to make a visit to the Lone Star State. But if you do, be prepared to sweat. It’s a sticky 94 degrees in the shade of my back porch right now. —Pam
I tried one of the new yellow echinaceas too, and lost it after a year. I think it was Mango Meadowbrite. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, I recall reading that there was some kind of disease problem with those yellow ones. Can’t remember any more about it than that, and my Google searches are not turning up anything either.
Hi, Entangled. Looking through my notes, I see I planted one yellow echinacea, ‘Sunrise,’ and one orange, ‘Sunset.’ They bloomed halfheartedly the first year and haven’t returned. I must stop spending money on those finicky new varieties. —Pam