New Plant Review: Echinacea 'Hot Papaya'

One of the new perennial plants I’m really excited about is Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’ (coneflower). There has been some beautiful double Coneflowers introduced throughout the past few years in like Milkshake, Pink Double Delight, Meringue and Coconut Lime. These pink and cream shades are nice, but not as fantastic as the intensely bright orange color of ‘Hot Papaya’.

The color is awesome, the flowers are big and beautiful, but I was worried about the the height. This plant gets to be 3 feet tall, I was sure the weight of the flowers would make such tall stems flop right over. To my surprise, the sturdy stems have stayed sturdy and upright so far this summer.

{Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’ (Coneflower)}

I had the hardest time decided what to pair with this plant. My first thought was to plant this with a light, airy purple perennial like Persokia (Russian Sage) or Agastache (Anuse Hysop). Instead, I decided pair it with Hemerocallis ‘Fooled Me’ (daylily), one of my favorite daylilies. I love how the bright orange and reds of this lady pair with ‘Hot Papaya’.

I just planted a few small plugs of two even newer double Coneflowers. I’m really excited for the unique orange of Echinacea ‘Maramalade’ (coneflower).  I have the perfect spot in my garden for the short, one and a half foot Echinacea ‘Raspberry Truffle’ (Coneflower) . Love the name of this pink double variety!