Coneflower, Echinacea

These big, bold daisies from the US prairies add oomph to the back of a border. They make large flowering clumps from midsummer to early autumn, and are a magnet to bees and butterflies.

Recommended varieties

There's a limited number of species and varieties.

E. purpurea : standing smartly upright and tall, it has a golden-brown eye or cone and purplish-red rays.
E. purpurea 'Green Edge': a white variety with green-edged petals. In general, the white ones tend to be a little shorter than the pinks, about 80cm (32in) rather than 1m (3ft).
E. purpurea 'Magnus': one of the most widely available cultivars, it has a dark-orange cone surrounded by purple-pink petals that tend to remain horizontal (those of E. purpurea , for example, usually bend back).
E. purpurea 'Robert Bloom': has crimson-mauve rays surrounding the orange-brown cone.
E. purpurea 'Rubinstern': regarded by many as the best coneflower, it has large ruby-red flowers from August to October, slightly later than some varieties.
E. purpurea 'White Lustre' : an attractive mix of creamy-white rays and bright orange-brown cones.
E. purpurea 'White Swan' : one of the smallest coneflowers at just 60cm (2ft high), it has ivory-white flowers that contrast strongly with the orange-brown cone.

Growing tips

Site and soil preferences

Echinacea need full sun. While good, fertile loam is ideal, any decent soil is OK. Otherwise, they need very little care and, being sturdy, no staking.

Planting associations

Try them with ornamental grasses, such as Deschampsia cespitosa and Panicum virgatum . Echinaceas mix well with blue echinops and perovskia, or pink persicarias.

Propagation

Plants can be propagated through division, taking cuttings of young shoots in spring, or sowing seed. Unlike other plants, the seeds from named varieties will produce plants that replicate the parent.

Problem solver

Coneflowers are long-lived and resistant to pests and diseases, but older plants can die for no apparent reason. Take cuttings occasionally as a precaution.