'Sundown' or 'Sunset'
aka 'Evan Saul'
Orange Coneflower
"Bumblebees come,
Hover, hesitate,
Drink, & are gone."
-Emily Dickinson
(1830-1886)
(1830-1886)
'Sundown' Echinacea is sometimes cataloged as 'Sunset,' or as 'Big Sky Sunset' because the cultivar series was named 'Big Sky.' The trademark name as marketed & liscensed to other growers by ItSaul Plants is 'Sundown' on the fancy nursery provided by ItSaul themselves. But the easy confusion of the names 'Sundown' & 'Sunset' begins with ItSaul itself, which on three pages of their on-line literature calls it 'Sundown' but they call it 'Sunset' on two of their own pages.
Conceivably they literally trademarked it under both names, but more likely whatever company they hired to write promotonal copy & design labels started the confusion, resulting in two different trademark names acknowledged by the original grower.To add to this small confusion, its actual registered cultivar name is 'Evan Saul,' after the son of Richard Saul of the Saul Brothers Nursery, Atlanta, Georgia, where this cultivar was developed.
It has large flowers up to six inches across, bright red-orange with occasional magenta hues, with a henna-brown cone, & a faint honey scent. It's one of the most unique & beautiful hybrid coneflowers, a cross of E. purpurea with E. paradoxa.
'Sundown' was released in 2005 along with the pale yellow 'Sunrise' which is usually a little shorter with slightly larger flowers. 'Sundown' is a mite taller (to three feet) but still in the main a compact perennial with sturdy upright flower stems.
Most echinaceas have reflexed petals but 'Sundown' blossoms have horizontal petals or only very slightly drooped. It is both floriferous & long-flowering. It blooms at least from July to October, sometimes longer, holding its excellent color throughout its long bloom time.
The photos on this page are from September & October respectively. It is cold-hardy & heat hardy in zones five through eight, potentially stretchable to zones three & ten with protection at the extremes.
Here on Puget Sound it wants full sun but might want a tiny bit of shade in hotter regions. Established clumps are very drought hardy but growth rate & flowering is best with moderate watering at high summer, in extremely well-draining soil.
Echinaceas are very appealing to bees & butterflies, suited to both the butterfly garden & the cutting garden. The ripened seedheads attract finches which will cling to a stem pecking seeds from autumn cones.