Echinacea purpurea 'Ruby Giant'
Common Name: Coneflower
Zones 3 to 8.
Full sun to part shade.
Plants reach to 30 inches tall and to 24 inches wide; Clumping habit. Growth rate: Moderate.
Huge, 7 inch wide, ruby blooms with recurved ray petals are held high above dense mounds of foliage. The central cone is coppery-orange and flattened. Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit 2003
Coneflowers like it sunny and hot. Though they will tolerate light shade, fewer flowers will be produced and the plants will be weakened. Light, loamy soils are best but coneflowers will grow in any well-drained soil. Once established, they are quite drought tolerant.
Excellent as a border plant, in mass or containers, as cut flower or foliage, dried flower or seed heads; fragrant flowers attract butterflies. If deadheaded, the bloom cycle will be extended. However, some spent blooms should be left on the plants in fall because their seeds provide winter food for finches and other birds. The dried seed heads also provide interest in the winter. Deer resistant. |