Expensive Echinacea!

Saw a lovely echinacea featured on RHS Tatton Park and fancied it. But Sarah Raven (who I'd class as the best supplier that has it) is asking £14.50 for a 9cm pot plant! Crocus are asking a similar price and so are Hayloft. Tortworth (whoever they are) want £4 for a 9cm pot plant but are charging twice that for the delivery! Not bad if one wants a load of plants but I only want one.

Echinacea x 'Pretty Parasols' ('JS Engeltje')

What's the deal here? Is it because it's new? I paid £5.20 for 'White Swan' as a 9cm pot plant and 'Magnus' cost me £6 for a 1L plant! This just seems like ridiculous pricing, I don't see how they can justify it and I certainly won't be paying it! Might try growing from seed for the first time in years but I don't really enjoy that...

Nick

 

It's only forty quid if you buy three

 

@JWK Thanks, 3 years sounds about right as they seem slow to establish for me, I only got 3 flowers from the 1L plant the first year and 9 in the second. 'White Swan' has only given me 2 flowers as a 9cm pot plant but I expect it to improve a lot next year as it was planted quite late in the season.

Nick

 

I had a similar experience with E. Green Twister. After 4 failed attempts at growing from seed, I gave in and bought 3 small plants from a French supplier. Got 3 plain pink ones at the same time. What a difference in vigour! The 'Green Twisters' were horribly expensive but at least the Co. do a money-back guarantee should they die. About the only French Co. that do! As Echinaceas were highly recommended for 'prairie-style ' planting, you'd think that they'd be tougher than they are?

 

I just love them ,these were grown from seed I think three years ago.
These are second year of flowering.

 

That's more the sort of effect I was after, @roders They look happy!

 

Doubt it, probably more like everyone else who had them has sold out, so now they can get more for them. This nursery was selling them in a 1 litre pot for £5.45 before they sold out.

Echinacea purpurea 'Pretty Parasols' | Proctors Nursery

 

I've had dealing with Tortworth plants a few times which I would recommend , I found them very helpful and even went out of there way to source a larger plant for me.

Its a PBR plant that needs a license to propagate for sale which I assume comes at a cost hence why its more than other echinaceas like magnus which can be grown for seed .

I only plant out echinacea out of a 2-3L pot slug fodder otherwise , my Pallida aren't doing to well this year , a kniphofia has smothered them . You want 3 plants Nick if you are buying from tortworth £20 - £6.66 per plant sounds a lot better than £12 per plant get your wallet out the plants aren't going to buy themselves

 

They look brilliant Roders!

Thanks for the info on Tortworth Plants @Perki, they sound great. I've bought a few PBR plants over the years but they were only slightly more expensive than their non-PBR counterparts, nothing like these echinaceas!

£6.66 - The Number of the Beast, sounds like the perfect price for me! Wish you'd stop putting these ideas into my head, I only wanted one!

Nick