The resurgence in the popularity of the US native Echinacea (purple coneflower) has coincided both with the study into their use as medicinal plants and for their ability to be reproduced clonally via tissue culture. Seed propagated purple coneflowers are great, but the new and wildly improved coneflowers for sale are stunning.
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We value the purple coneflower as a great summer-flowering perennial in the native plant garden as well as the mixed perennial border. The flowers attract both butterflies and hummingbirds. Purple coneflower species are easy to grow, heat and drought-tolerant native perennials. Two things that echinacea plants do not like are heavy clay soils and poor winter drainage.
We hope you are as excited as we are about the new coneflower hybrids that greatly extend the range of colors and forms. Purple coneflowers are no long just purple; they are available in a wide array of colors, fragrance, and well as single and double-flowered hybrids. We continue to trial the spectrum of new echinacea selections, offerring the best garden performers.
When you are ready to buy echinaceas for your garden, check out our listing of echinaceas (purple coneflowers) for sale below.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Sources - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
This new introduction from Itsaul Plants forms a 2' tall x 2' wide clump with over 100 flowers per plant, making it the most floriferous echinacea on the market. The flowers, which start in early summer, are typical pink with reflexed petals...attractive to hummingbirds. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This wild and crazy 2009 Terra Nova introduction produces large pompom-like flowers of peachy orange, each surrounded by a small row of peachy petals...attractive to hummingbirds. The clusters of flowers are borne atop 3' tall stems starting in mid-June (NC). As with all coneflowers, well-drained soils and plenty of sun are essential. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This new coneflower from Richard Saul (named after his son) arises in spring as a basal rosette of narrow green leaves from which rise sturdy 40" tall stems. Starting in June, the flowering stems are topped with 3.5" bright orange flowers that attract hummingbirds and have a delightfully sweet aroma. This F3 hybrid of Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea paradoxa (lots of good inbreeding...popular down there in the Georgia mountains) makes a fast-growing clump which, under good conditions, will produce 60 flowers on a 1-year-old plant...simply delightful. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This 2009 release from Terra Nova Nurseries has performed very well in our trials. Echinacea 'Firebird' forms a nice compact clump topped, starting in early summer, with 30" tall, sturdy, well-branched spikes of flowers composed of bright reddish-orange reflexed petals surrounding a dark brown central cone...a hummingbird favorite. Good drainage is essential for long-term survivability. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Echinacea 'Flame Thrower' is a hit (pun intended) 2009 Terra Nova introduction that has performed very well in our trials. Echinacea 'Flame Thrower' is composed of sturdy 30" well-branched stalks topped, starting in early summer, with fragrant bright orange flowers...attractive to hummingbirds. The narrow, flat petals are light orange near the recurving tips and darken toward the central orange cone...very floriferous! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Echinacea 'Gum Drop' is the latest coneflower from the Terra Nova breeding program. The 32" tall clumps are topped, starting in late June (NC), with cute, dark pink, pompom-style flowers...attractive to hummingbirds. Well-drained soils are essential for good survival. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Echinacea 'Hot Lava' is another 2009 hybrid from the Terra Nova breeding program. The sturdy 4' tall stems are topped, starting in midsummer, with wide-petaled, orange-coned, bright reddish-orange flowers that attract hummingbirds...quite stunning. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Everyone's been waiting patiently (and some, not so) for this echinacea breakthrough from Holland's Arie Blom. The vigorous 3' tall stalks of Echinacea 'Hot Papaya' are topped through the summer with an amazing display of lightly fragrant, bright orange pom-poms, surrounded by a row of single drooping petals...attractive to hummingbirds. The flowers emerge orange, but quickly change to a brilliant scarlet red...simply unbelievable. The longer I grow this, the more impressed I am. As with all echinaceas, well-drained soils in winter are essential for good survival. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
From Georgia's Saul Brothers comes the latest in their line of coneflower hybrids. Echinacea 'Katie Saul' forms a clump of 3' tall dark stems, each topped, starting in midsummer, with 5" wide, uniquely colored flowers that are peach toward the tips but change to cherry red near the central cone. The effect is a bicolor flower, which gives rise to all kinds of garden color combinations...a hummingbird favorite. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This 2010 Terra Nova release produces 26" tall spikes of salmon orange flowers that age to a nice coral peach...a good rebloomer and hummingbird attractor. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This new coneflower from Georgia's Saul Brothers is topped starting in July with lovely, 4" wide, peachy-orange flowers surrounding an orange central cone atop 30" tall stems...a fuel source for hummingbirds. Echinacea 'Matthew Saul' is a delightful new color break in the genus, not to mention lightly fragrant. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
For those of us who have been fortunate enough to enjoy the Maui sunshine, I can't think of a plant more aptly named. The sturdy 3' tall stems are topped with large, fragrant, golden yellow flowers, each highlighted by a bright orange central cone starting in late June (NC)...a hummingbird favorite. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This new Terra Nova introduction is a better-branched version of Echinacea 'Mac and Cheese'. The 26" tall clumps are topped, starting in late June, with large flat flowers that open orange-gold and age to gold...attractive to hummingbirds. As with all echinaceas, well-drained soils are critical. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(syn: Echinacea 'CBG Cone 2') Echinacea 'Pixie Meadowbrite' is the third release from Dr. Jim Ault's breeding program at the Chicago Botanic Garden. This new coneflower is the result of an intentional horticultural menage a trois with Echinacea purpurea, tennesseensis, and angustifolia. The result is a charming 18" tall x 2' wide compact clump, composed of sturdy flowering stems that end in mid-sized, flat-petaled pink flowers that rebloom all summer...a real winner and hummingbird treat! Since it was given the illegitimate name of CBG Cone 2, we have renamed it using their illegal trademark name of Echinacea 'Pixie Meadowbrite' as the cultivar name. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Echinacea 'Avalanche' is the best compact, single white-flowered coneflower in our trials...a hummingbird favorite. This Arie Bloom hybrid makes a tight clump, adorned in summer with 20" spikes of large, white, horizontally-held petals...quite nice! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This new selection of our US native Echinacea purpurea is from Piet Oudolf's famed garden in Holland. Echinacea 'Fatal Attraction' is unique because of the 26" tall, sturdy wine-black stems that hold the intense pink flowers...a favorite of hummingbirds and garden visitors. Flowering begins in late June...be patient. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This sturdy coneflower selection from Terra Nova Nurseries in 2004 is the white counterpart of Echinacea 'Ruby Giant' and the best white coneflower we have ever grown. The giant 4-5" heads of pure white petals, around a contrasting orange cone, are also deliciously fragrant and attractive to hummingbirds. Since these are clonally reproduced, each plant is identical for a more uniform planting. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
When Mark Veeder first showed me a photo of his new Echinacea purpurea seedling, I thought for sure this was an April Fool's Photoshop® creation. Only after growing and photographing the plant myself, can I say for sure, it is truly this unique. The 20" tall stems are topped, starting in mid-June, with large 4.5" wide flowers composed of a dark cone with a green center...a hummingbird favorite. Surrounding the cone are long petals that are pink toward the cone, changing to lime-green toward the downward recurving tips. Echinacea 'Green Envy' is so weird, gardeners will either love or hate it...we love it! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
From Tony's college classmate Kim Hawks, former owner of Niche Gardens, comes a new dwarf selection of the wonderful native purple coneflower. This compact selection is the first coneflower to be vegetatively propagated, ensuring that every plant is identical...no seed-grown variation as long as you remove the old seed heads. Starting in mid-June (NC), each flower head has rigidly reflexed, rosy-pink petals that give a truly unique look to this selection. Purple coneflower is extremely drought-tolerant, although it does favor improved garden conditions. Plant a drift, sit back with drink in hand, and wait for the hummingbirds and butterflies! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This coneflower from Holland's Arie Blom has made a real splash in our trials. The amazing branched flower spikes are composed of large, double white flowers, each surrounded by a row of single petals. For us, Echinacea 'Milkshake' starts flowering in midsummer and reblooms in the fall...attractive to hummingbirds. Although the breeder claims a 3' tall flower stem, our plants have never topped 2' tall. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
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