Echinacea purpurea

Scientific name: Echinacea purpurea

Synonym: Rudbeckia echinacea purpurea , Rudbeckia purpurea

Family: ASTERACEAE

Common names: “Purple coneflower” “black samson” “hedgehog cone flower”

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial

Conditions:

Zone: 3-9

Light: Full sun best – part shade

Exposure: Exposed or sheltered

Soil: Light average soil, if too fertile they can get floppy

Moisture: Well drained! no wet feet in winter, handles drought but better with some water

Aesthetic:

Plant Size: H 3-4′ W 18″

Leaf and Stem shape: Coarsely hairy, ovate or lance-shaped leaves

Flower: Solitary flower-heads with slightly reflexed, light purple rays and brown central disk

Maintenance: Low, may require staking in rich soil, can be cut lower before flowers to shorten the height

Landscape use: Flower beds, cut flowers, wildlife garden, prairie planting

Propagate: By seed, division and root cuttings

Pests & Disease: None but the deer

Comments: Native to North America, used in homeopathic remedies

Cultivars: ~AGM winners: E. p. ‘Elbrook’ & E. p. ‘Ruby Giant’

E. p. ‘Magnus’ – strong, most common, deeper purple

E. p. ‘White Swan’ – best of the whites

E. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ – multi-coloured and seeds true

E. ‘Pow Wow Wild Berry’ – also strong

some newer cultivars are very weak and less hardy

buy E. pallida if you ever see it!