plant named ‘Knock 'em Red’

Botanical denomination:hybrid.

Cultivar designation: ‘Knock 'em Red’.

The first offer for sale of the claimed plant was to North Coast Perennials by Walters Gardens, Inc. on Oct. 15, 2024.‘Knock 'em Red’ was also listed with a photograph and brief description on a website operated by Walters Gardens, Inc. on Dec. 1, 2024, and the “Walters Gardens 2025-2026 Catalog” distributed first on Jun. 3, 2025. Walters Gardens, Inc. obtained the plant and all information relating thereto from the inventor. No plants of‘Knock 'em Red’ have been sold in this country or anywhere in the world nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made more than one year prior to the filing date of this application and such sale or disclosure within one year was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor.

The present invention relates to the new and distinct cultivar of Coneflower from the genusand given the cultivar name ‘Knock 'em Red’. The new plant was the result of a cross in the summer of 2018, by the inventor at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Michigan between the proprietary unreleased hybrid known only by the breeder code as 17-7-x (not patented) and the proprietary unreleased hybrid known only by the breeder code as 17-7-xx (not patented) at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Michigan. This single seedling selected was evaluated first in trials in the summer of 2019 at the same nursery and assigned the breeder code of 18-33-10.‘Knock 'em Red’ has been asexually propagated at the same nursery by basal crown division since 2020 and also using careful shoot tip tissue culture procedures at the same nursery and both propagation methods have been found to reproduce plants that exhibit all the characteristics identical to the original plant.

‘Knock 'em Red’ is distinct from all other Coneflowers known to the inventor. The nearest comparison cultivars are: ‘Dixie Scarlet’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 26,110, ‘Embers Fever’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 31,466, ‘Fatal Attraction’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 18,429, and ‘Hot Papaya’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,022, and ‘Raspberry Truffle’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,612.

‘Dixie Scarlet’ has a shorter habit, smaller inflorescences, fewer, thinner, and less imbricate ray florets. ‘Embers Fever’ is slightly shorter in habit, with much less branching, and the ray florets are more reddish. ‘Fatal Attraction’ is slightly smaller in habit and more upright and less mounded, smaller inflorescences with ray florets of dark purplish-red. ‘Hot Papaya’ has a taller and narrower habit, fewer ray petals per inflorescence that a lighter orangish color.

The female parent plant, 17-7-x, is taller with more branching, with larger and wider petals of fuchsia pink. The male parent plant, 17-7-xx, is a sibling to the female parent and has a shorter habit with less basal branching, and the flower color is more true reddish colored.

‘Knock 'em Red’ has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment including: temperature, available sunlight intensity and duration, nutrients, water, etc. without a change in the genotype of the plant. The new plant is distinct from its parents and all otherknown to the applicant in the following combined traits:

The following description of‘Knock 'em Red’ is based on observations of two-year-old specimens grown in a full-sun trial garden with supplemental water and fertilizer in Zeeland, Michigan. The new plant has not been tested in all environments and some phenotypic differences may occur with different environments without, however, any change in genotype. The color descriptions are based on the 2015 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except where common dictionary descriptions are used.