Echinaceas provide striking colours to a garden, blooming from mid-summer through to mid-autumn. Commonly called coneflowers, these easy to grow plants work well alongside other perennials.
They are ideal plants when considering prairie-style gardening, their height and range of colours complementing the ornamental grasses employed in this increasing popular type of garden.
There are a good number of echinacea varieties to select from, but whichever best suits your planting scheme their colourful flowers will attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies in to your garden. Some varieties to consider include:
Echinacea Purpurea ‘Magnus’
This is one of the more common varieties of echinaceas found in gardens and it is not hard to see why. Growing to a height of 75cm tall the solitary long stalk produces beautiful deep pink petals which droop away from the dark orange conical centre. This is a variety pollinators love and which has a long flowering season, helping to sustain their dashes of colour well in to the autumn months.
‘The King’
This variety earns its name by standing out for both its height and its attractively coloured flowers. ‘The King’ can grow to a height of 2 meters, combining well with the grasses employed in a prairie-style garden. Yet it is not just its height which sets this variety apart, but also the arching pink petals of the large solitary flower heads, within which sits the orange-brown conical centre.
‘White Swan’
This is another variety which is popular with gardeners. It is an elegant addition to a garden border, producing lovely pure white flowers which sweep away from the golden yellow coned centre. This is a showy plant whose white flowers will work well alongside your other plants of various colours. The honey-scented long lasting blooms will help attract butterflies to the garden.
‘Hot Lava’
As the name implies this variety will produce blazing red flowers for you to enjoy. A herbaceous perennial, it will grow to around 80cm in height with a spread of 40cm. The flowers offset a darker conical centre which combine to brighten up any border. If you are looking to plant a ‘hot border’ full of reds, oranges and yellows then ‘Hot Lava’ will fit the task well.
‘Cranberry Cupcake’
This is another beautifully striking coneflower which will attract pollinators to your garden. A vigorous plant, it produces large cranberry red blooms and stunning centres of the same hue. This is a low maintenance plant which tolerates drought conditions well. Good for borders or containers, the lightly scented flowers bloom through the summer months.
‘Rainbow Marcella’
The ‘Rainbow Marcella’ is ideal for containers or to plant towards the front of your garden borders. Attractive to pollinators it provides lovely apricot-orange blooms which slowly turn to a soft pink hue as they mature. They are not a tall variety, growing to a height of 45cm, but what they may lack in stature they make up for in colour and texture, with the delicate flowers offset by the darker orange-brown centre cones.
An expert landscaper can design pathways and gardens that are interesting and colourful all year round, no matter the weather.
Our landscape team at Glorious Gardens is happy to discuss these ideas in planning your garden. If you’re considering a “re-do” of your outdoor space, we invite you to call us. We will brainstorm to find the right blend of elements to suit your tastes, your budget and your space.
