Best:
'PowWow Wild Berry'
'Tennesseensis'
'Pink Double Delight'
'Pica Bella'
'Hot Papaya'
'Avalanche'
'Fragrant Angel'
'Flame Thrower'

Worst:
'Tangerine Dream'
'Mac'n Cheese'
'Maui Sunshine'
'Harvest Moon'
'Sundown'
'Sunrise'

Clint, can you tell us why those are on your worst list? What did they do wrong?

They either didn't grow well here or had deformed blooms.

They either didn't grow well here or had deformed blooms.

Ones that are doing great for me are
Magnus
Harvest Moon
Summer Sky
Pink Poodle
White Swan
Meringue
Mac N Cheese (slowest grower), but worth it

Not so good would be
After Midnight (missing petals)
Pink Double Delight (good last yr. but now looks awful)
Tomato Soup (small flowers that often look deranged)

Also, this would depend hugely on where you have them planted and soil conditions.

""""Also, this would depend hugely on where you have them planted and soil conditions""""
Yea I am learning that the hard way. My list would be.

Good
Magnus
Alba

Bad
After Midnight - came back smaller then last year & barely a plant
Harvest moon - color fades, bloom not uniform & petals burns in our sun of 98+
Pink dbl delight - nice bloom but falls over badly
Prairie Splendor - spindly
White swan - color fades & petals burns in our sun of 98+
Summer sky - loved it, then the petals FRIED in our heat
Sunrise - never came back from last year

can any of your good ones take 100+ degree dry heat?

Pink Double Delight: it is delightful, but floppy as thahalibut said. Is there a reason it flops over so badly? Can anyone think of a non-obtrusive was to hold them up?

I just stick a small bamboo cane under mine. However, mine isn't flopping this year. I planted mine next to Meringue and they kind of hold each other up.

Tomato Soup didn't make it over winter. It was such a beauty though, too bad.

Mac and Cheese, don't waste your money! Deformed buds, stunted, and just an awful grower for me. I shovel pruned it this year finally after trying for two years, and threw it on the driveway! lol

Aftermidnight great plant! No problems at all yet.

Tiki Torch, finally full of buds and starting to bloom after 3 years! I bought it when I bought Mac and Cheese, and it's outdoing Mac for sure.

I really like Ruby Star and White Swan.
Magnus and Kim's Knee High are just as profuse and good looking but the color of Ruby Star is my favorite.
Razzmattaz blooms very well too and not floppy but it isn't a big plant after 5 years or so and it should be.

Best:
'Virgin'
'Pink Double Delight'
'Fragrant Angel'
'Ruby Star'
'Milkshake'
'Tomato Soup'
'Rocky Top'
'Harvest Moon'
'Mars'

Worst:
'Mac'n Cheese' - puny, doesn't grow
'Sundown' - deformed flowers
'Sunrise' - deformed flowers
'Sunset' - deformed flowers
'Twilight' - deformed flowers
'Tiki Torch' - puny, doesn't grow

Just got Flame Thrower, PowWow Wild Berry and Pink Poodle this year. Will hold off my opinion until I see if they overwinter or bloom.

It is interesting to read the different list..and to know that what grows well for some, doesn't for others. Don't you think a lot has to do with many different factors? Soil condition, type of soil planted into, light location, watering practices to mention a few of the things. Gardening is all about Trial and Error and how patient a gardener you are.

It's funny, my Tiki Torch was puny until this year. Now it's getting big and has loads of buds on it. I think most just need time to grow a better root system before taking off, and that sometimes means no growing above ground for the first year much. Now, Mac and Cheese, that's a different ballgame. Bad performer all the way around!

Best
Fatal Attraction.
Dark stems...deep color.
Never fails me.

Worse.
Sunrise series.

These have all winterkilled on me - I'm almost ready to give up.

coconut lime
sundown
tangerine dream
pink poodle

these are left:
primadonna
double decker

I'll chime in on the echinaceas
Good
Magnus
Meringue
Milkshake
Hot Papaya
Pow wow
Bad
Mac n Cheese
Pink Poodle
Sundowner Series

I might sound like I'm preaching but I feel the MAJOR problem other than bad plants is that people let the plants bloom too much the first year. The plants expend so much energy blooming that there is little left for root development.

At the least the flowers should be deadheaded mid September to let the plants store up strength for the winter. I normally let one or two flowers grow the first year and ruthlessly eviscerate all other buds.

Another solution is at least monthly after watering, spray the plants with a solution of 10 52 15 fertilizer - the center high number helps develop roots.

A third is when planting add MYKE - it's a symbiotic fungus that helps root development as well. Should be available at your Garden Cemter. People are so enamored with with the beauty of the plants that they give them little chance of survival

I feel that the truism - sleep, creep, leap as in root development - has been short circuited in the new echinaceas. It's the instant gratification syndrome.

Hope this is of use, sometimes you just get bad plants especially the first few years of the latest and greatest.