Echinacea purpurea 'Razzmatazz', to give it its full title, was selected by Jan van Winsen from a batch of Echinacea purpurea seedlings back in 1997. He thought it would make a good addition to his range of cut flowers, so set about propagating it. 

But 4 years later, and with a good stock of plants now growing in his field, Jan was having second thoughts.

The cut-flower market didn’t respond positively to this strange new being, and after a couple of seasons loosing money at the auctions Jan was ready to throw in the towel.

A chance comment to his friend, neighbour and rowing team-mate, Marco van Noort during a rowing practice session saved the day for ‘Razzmatazz’, as Marco immediately realised that Jan's plant had to be a radical new breakthrough.

Contacts in the perennials export market were alerted and 'Razzmatazz' was clutched from the jaws of extinction to become a cover star on leading mail-order catalogues on both sides of the Atlantic.

Marco van Noort helped save the day for Echinacea 'Razzmatazz' and is now responsible for growing the plants commercially.