If you haven't investigated coneflower (Echinacea) selections at your local garden center lately, you're in for a surprise. Varieties of this mid- to late-blooming perennial have broadened well beyond the common single-petal, dark pink blooms.
Flower styles range from standard daisy-type to double pom-poms to zinnia-like. Petal colors glow in hues of peach, coral and fiery orange, pure white, envious green, a green-pink combo, yellow and gold, and pale pink to deep magenta.
Don't shy from Echinacea because of their usual three or four foot height. Plant breeding created shorter, front-of-the-border or
container-friendly coneflowers just twelve to eighteen inches tall such as 'Big Sky After Midnight' or 'Little Annie'.
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The hitch? Nectar and flower types of new Echinacea may be less pollinator-attractive. To lure pollinators such as butterflies, plant common purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).
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