About echinacea
Echinacea purpurea, also known as purple coneflower, has pink flowers and a large, orange-brown cone in the centre. It's perfect for growing in drifts towards the middle or back of a cottage-style or herbaceous border, or among grasses and rudbeckias in a prairie-style planting scheme.
Our Top Tip
Always good to deadhead flowers to encourage side shoots and more blooms.
Sowing Tip
Sow on the surface and press into moist soil. Echinacea seeds need light to germinate, so leave uncovered on a warm sunny windowsill.
In The Records
The name Echinacea comes from the Greek 'echinos', which describes the nature of a hedgehog - clearly inspired by the bristly scales of the dried seed head. The echinacea coneflower was one of the most important healing plants of the Native Americans.
Handsome long lasting purple blooms.
Makes for a superb sight in clumps of purple blooms growing to 90cm+ They are a real zinger for the bumblebees and butterflies and love a good drought... if we ever have one in England! Enjoy in the garden beds or as cut flowers in the house.
Why it's special:
Brewed as a herbal tea to support immune system.
Long lasting seasonal blooms.
Distinctive, sweet, fragrance that attracts bees and butterflies.