Are You a Conehead?

Most gardeners are familiar with the old standard purple coneflower (Echinacea). It is a tough, native North American plant that has adapted to a wide range of environments. Coneflowers take hot, dry conditions and poor soil without complaint and yet they handle extreme cold and wet conditions with equal ease.

Coneflowers are low maintenance, vigorous bloomers that spread easily and make wonderful, long lasting cut flowers. Butterflies love them and the seeds produced in the fall are great for attracting birds to the garden. They sound pretty perfect, right? Well, in the gardening world, they are darn close.

Non-gardeners are familiar with Echinacea as an herbal remedy that helps ward off colds, flu and other infections. Echinacea has been shown to stimulate the body’s natural immune system thereby helping your body fight off disease.

An interesting bit of trivia…the genus name, Echinacea, comes from the Latin name for hedgehog which refers to the prickly lower stems.

Although the native coneflowers are wonderful plants, the new hybrids that have become available in the last few years are nothing short of brilliant. In addition to the traditional purple, there are now many shades of orange, yellow, pink, green and white. The best thing about these new hybrids is that, in addition to the exciting new characteristics they offer, they manage to retain the vigor and adaptability of their native cousins.

There are two primary researchers responsible for these new introductions. Dr. Jim Ault of the Chicago Botanic Garden and Richard Saul of Itsaul Plants in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr Ault spent seven years developing the Meadowbrite series, with ‘Art’s Pride’ or ‘Orange Meadowbrite’ being the first release. It features tangerine orange flowers and a sweet, spicy fragrance on two to three foot sturdy plants. The series also includes ‘Mango’ and ‘Pixie.’

Richard Saul calls the interest in and development of new coneflowers the ‘cone craze.’ His claim to fame is the long-blooming Big Sky series. This includes ‘Summer Sky,’ the first bi-color coneflower as well as ‘Harvest Moon,’ a golden yellow variety, ‘After Midnight,’ which is magenta and ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Sunset,’ citron yellow and intense orange respectively.

‘Green Envy’ was developed by hobbyist gardener Mark Veeder. This one is a jaw dropper. The green portion of the petal slowly fades to magenta, creating a beautiful bi-color effect. The tips of the petals remain green for up to a month.

“Coconut Lime’ is the first double flowered white coneflower.

Other double flowered varieties include ‘Razzmatazz’ and “Pink Double Delight.’ And don’t forget ‘All That Jazz,’ which I mentioned in an earlier column. It features quill shaped petals that resemble spoons.

There are so many new and interesting coneflowers to choose from, it’s easy to see why so many gardeners are becoming ‘coneheads.’ If you don’t want to be left out of this newest craze, you better plant one or two this year.