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Breeders
Thierry Delabroye
The Frenchman with a proud passion for perennials.
Richard Saul
bred the Echinaceas that everybody's talking about. But there's so much more to him than just Coneflowers!
René van Gaalen
is the anarchist of the plant-breeding world, constantly coming up with unexpected new varieties.
Reinier van Elderen
Plant breeding is all about having fun, as far as Reinier is concerned.
Pieter Damen
Pieter Damen is a cutflower grower who's constantly working to breed improved varieties.
Piet Zonneveld
Piet Zonneveld is an Agapanthus specialist, with over 40 varieties at his nursery.
Piet Oudolf
is an internationally renowned garden designer and plant hybridiser, with a number of notable achievements.
Peter van Steijn
Peter van Steijn is a cutflower grower who takes great pleasure in breeding new varieties.
Nico Wigchert
grows and breeds many Delphinium varieties, mainly for the cut-flower market.
Nic Geerlings
Nic Geerlings owns a production nursery where he grows several different genera of perennials.
Mark van Kesteren
is a perennial propagator and grower responsible for raising a range of sought-after varieties.
Marco van Noort
Initially in the cut flower trade, Marco switched to perennials during the 1980's and never looked back.
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Just where do those Big Sky Echinaceas come from?
28-09-2006 17:01 With their amazing colours, the 'Big Sky' series of Echinaceas have been causing quite a stir. Darwin PlantSpotters reveals the full story behind them.
By Miriam Young   

The result of generations of crossings between E. paradoxa and E. purpurea, the 'Big Sky' series of Echinaceas have got the perennials world buzzing with their never-before-seen colours and desirable plant habits.  

Two of them, E. 'Harvest Moon' and E. 'Twilight' will be available from 2007 as Darwin PlantSpotters varieties.  

You can now read all about these and learn about the man behind their breeding, Richard Saul, on this website!

Just select the plant names from the drop-down menus or click on Richard's picture in the left-hand column.
 
The 2007 Selection
The Plant Chooser
By Miriam Young
An overview of the Darwin PlantSpotters 2007 range and the man responsible for their selection.
Also spotted!
The best of the rest
By Miriam Young
While the plants featured on this site and sold with the Darwin PlantSpotters label are undeniably special, there are also many other perennials we know PlantSpotters fans will love!
New Plants
Do you have a new variety?
By Miriam Young
Do you have a plant you have bred or discovered in your garden which you believe to be completely new? If so we'd love to hear from you!
Preferred by plantspeople
Back to the roots
By Hans Witteman
A plant is not another bag of potato chips, ready to be consumed. You've got to work first and that is actually part of the enjoyment.
In the shops
How to recognise a Darwin PlantSpotters variety
By Miriam Young
Darwin PlantSpotters varieties are easily identified by their distinctive labels.
Community
Getting involved
By Miriam Young
Be part of the plant future by taking part in discussions between hybridisers, growers, gardeners and everybody else involved.
How to use this site
Navigating your way around
By Miriam Young
Welcome to Darwin PlantSpotters. Just a few clicks and you will be experiencing gardening as you've never known it before!
Useful Links
Click here for information about other websites and organisations
By Miriam Young
If you like this site, here are some others you'll also find interesting.
FAQ
When is next year's list going to be available?
Why are so many of the Darwin PlantSpotters breeders from Holland?
Can I offer a plant to Darwin PlantSpotters?
What do the "hardy zones" refer to on the tags and plant descriptions?
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Forum
What do you think about Darwin PlantSpotters?
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