Echinacea

Put Echinacea (Coneflower) into ‘Google’ and the few first pages list the plant’s medical properties. But there is more to an Echinacea than a pill or powder.

These handsome plants have large, daisy shaped flowers that add a splash of colour to late summer borders. The flowers, which bloom from mid July to late August and occasionally September, are generally pale magenta or white. In recent years new varieties have come onto the market increasing the range to include blends of orange and yellow.

Look further at the flower and you will see that the centres are quite fascinating. They are made up of  rows of spikes that swirl into a dome hence the common name Coneflower. These are usually brown, ginger or rust, but sometimes green and if you stick your nose near to them you will discover they are fragrant.  The flowers are carried individually on upright stems that can be branched or not depending on the variety. The stems emerge from a central crown, carry a few leaves to form an upright leafy clump.

A plant of the US prairies, in the wild the flowers are quite relaxed, and usually pink, but there is one wild yellow species that is not dissimilar to Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan), except Rudbeckias don’t have spiky centres. They grow in similar conditions, a well-drained soil in a sunny spot. Although Echinaceas are very easy to grow, they don’t like soils that are inclined to be wet during the winter, which seems to be the commonest way to kill them off.

Popular or not

When I started growing perennials 28 years ago I listed just two Echinaceas – E. purpurea and Echinacea ‘White Lustre’. There were one or two other varieties around but they were not sufficiently different for me to add them to the catalogue. This was a time when Echinaceas were not popular, and as far as I can see they never really had been. Frances Perry in her excellent book ‘Guide to Border Plants’ (published 1957) described Echinaceas as ‘somewhat course in appearance, the unusual coloration is not unattractive in the border’. During the late 1990’s Dutchman Piet Ouldolf started off a design trend labelled ‘Prairie Planting’. Echinaceas are perfect for this style of planting and since then plant breeders in America and Holland have added hundreds of new varieties. In 2011 the RHS Plantfinder listed 119 varieties. I have to ask myself do we really need so many introductions? Of course we don’t, and time will tell which varieties are still be grown by nurserymen in 20 years time.

New Varieties

Many of these new introductions are not to my taste. For me the beauty of the Echinacea lies in the simplicity of the daisy shape. New varieties now include extra petals, some of which are layered in ruffles and look like the untidy feathers of some rare breed hen. The original colours of pink, white and yellow have been mixed to create orange and peach, and even green. Some of the new colours are lovely, and very useful in the border. However reliability was not great in the first of these new hybrids, especially those introduced during the 1990’s. I lost no end of E. ‘Art’s Pride’ over the winter and the semi-double ‘Fatal Attraction’ has become single. The Echinaceas introduced by the American Saul Brothers such as ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sundown’ have proved to be reliable and seems to survive even wet winters (of course I am prepared to be wrong).

My personal favourites

Personally I like my Echinaceas to be simply shaped and not green, so forgive me for only including these few varieties:

‘Hope’ has very large, flat flowers with short, slender petals of pale pink that sit around a very big, flat ginger centre. The flowers are scented. 75cm

‘Magnus’ is an improved form of the wild Echinacea purpurea, which has flowers that range from mid pink to pale magenta. This is stable hybrid has large flowers with long petals of deep pink and brown centres. AGM. 90cm

‘Sundown’ has fragrant reddish orange flowers, an unusual colour, with broad petals that open flat and deep bronze centres. 75cm

‘Sunrise’ has fragrant bright butter yellow flowers with large ginger coloured centres. 75cm

‘White Swan’ (Alba) is always good. The flowers are creamy white and have ginger domed centres with soft green leaves. 90cm

What to grow with Echinacea

As Echinaceas flower later in summer they are ideal for planting with Asters, grasses such as Calamagrostis & Miscanthus, Perovskia, Sedums, Salvias & Achilleas.

How to grow & look after Echinacea

Echinacea like a well-drained soil, in full sun. The flower stems can be cut to the ground when they have finished flowering. With so many blooms I think the clump is weakened if it is allowed to set seed.

It is a good idea to lift and split every 3 years or so to keep the plant's vigour. Make sure the divisions are quite large, and be sure to keep the newly replanted clumps moist for quite a while after planting.

Want to see what Echinaceas we have at the moment?