Yep, the name needs a makeover, but Echibeckia for me is a winner. I love the look and summer and fall bloom time, and it survives my zone 6b winter, so I am always adding more. I picked up this relatively new cross at a local nursery. There are so many new varieties of perennials that it is hard to keep up with the deluge, but I have decided this one is a keeper after growing it for about five years.
Echibeckia is a hybrid plant resulting from a cross between Coneflower (Echinacea) and Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia). Combining desirable traits of both parent plants, the long-lasting, vibrant flowers fill a border or a vase with color. Since Coneflowers and Rudbeckias are favorites of many gardeners, the combo will have staying power and appeal to many gardeners everywhere. If you live in a colder climate, you can still grow them, but as an annual.
Summerina is the first three-variety series of this new cross, coming in an orange-with-yellow bicolor, a yellow-with-orange bicolor, and burnt orange. So, Echibeckias combine the look and fast growth of Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) with the hardiness and disease resistance of coneflowers (Echinacea). Combining these two staples of the garden was a slam dunk. Both tough plants on their own, a little bit north of me here in Maryland, would be their hardiness limit at -10 F being the drop dead winter temperature to survive.
Known for sturdy stems, and compact growth habit, these flowers just seem to be in bloom from early June to frost for me in the mid-Atlantic region. The one downside to Echibeckia is that surprisingly bunnies like them and I have to protect them when young with chicken wire cages. I would have thought with the almost prickly foliage and stems that bunnies would leave them alone but I have observed bunnies nibbling it down to the ground.
This post has been updated July 2025.
