It must be me as I don't see any reference to "sombrero" at this trial garden site. But I did notice that "PowWow Wildberry" didnt get a very good rating/review. I am surprised as it has done well for me (albeit in its first year).

How about some Michigan Trials?

Here is a link that might be useful: Raker Trials

I must admit I do like the photos of actual garden plants with spent blooms and all. Too many catalogs only show a closeup of a single bloom which does not tell you much about how the entire plant will look in the garden. Nice site.

Kevin

Sorry here is the trials site with pics of sombrero echs

Here is a link that might be useful: missouri trials

Thanks for the redirect miclino. I am not impressed with the pictures of these "sombrero" ehcs.

I think I'll just grow Gaillardias when I want yellow, red, and orange colors. They bloom over a longer period of time and they are tough plants! I have winter-sowed seeds of all the different colors this year. The Sombrero Echinaceas are just tissue cultured selections out of the fields where they grow the seed variety Cheyenne Spirit. The seeds are expensive and hard to find this year, but I bet next year they will be easy to get. I know the Gaillardias will perform better than those, however. I've seen them start blooming in the first week of March before and they go right through the first frost.

My point exactly rouge! Based on catalogue pics, I was tempted to buy them but not anymore

Well is saw sombrero red echinacea at lowes and had to buy one. No idea where to put it though!
Actually looks better than I expected
{{gwi:198085}}
By null at 2012-07-02

So much for that study! LOL. I know several people with these Sombrero plants and they all LOVE them.

The problem is not photoshop (well it is sometimes but why blame one piece of software when there are many many kinds) - it's that you are looking at them on a computer monitor which can have all sorts of weirdness (such as factory settings).

OWEVER - as micino - a company should strive to have an accurate photo of their flowers HOPING that the viewer does not have factory settings on their monitor. Another problem as aachenelf points out is the kind of photo - stay away from close ups. I want to see the entire flower.

And for PA we have Penn State Trials

Here is a link that might be useful: Penn State Trial Gardens

What are Trial Gardens, I've never heard of this term,

They are public and private gardens where new plants are planted out and "trialed" for performance. Some are open to the public, some aren't. Some are at certain times of the year only.

They keep records and let the breeders know how the plants do.

Yeah, like all those photos of Purple Prince orienpet lily, showing a deep saturated purple. Hah! Try a washed out wimpy lavender. Should be called, "Effete Heir," not Purple Prince. An reputable sellers are showing these photos, too.

Maybe it's time to bring back the old-fashioned printed catalog? To me at least, it's always very obvious if a photo has been enhanced in any way when you see it on paper. There are some really terrible catalogs out there, but also some marvelous ones where I trust the photos I'm seeing.

'The Lily Source' catalog comes to mind as one of the better ones. The lilies I ordered from them did actually look like the photos printed in the catalog.

Kevin