Echinacea Eccentric

'Eccentric' makes for a bewildering display--from the reflexing purple petals of the just-opening bud to the exploding red-orange puffball of the mature bloom, they are all so beautiful, you won't know where to look! Quite an eccentric look, indeed!

This UK-bred Echinacea purpurea hybrid is proving exceptionally hardy and healthy in the US, resisting heat, drought, and disease even better than the already-healthy US cultivars. 'Eccentric' is incredibly robust and resilient--just plant it in full sun, water it until it gets established, and it will do the rest!

And the blooms are exceptional! 'Eccentric' is the most brilliant double coneflower on the market, being the deepest red and the only double that dramatically changes color as the flowers mature. The flowers bloom perpetually from June to August, often having young and old flowers growing side by side. And the centers of this double Echinacea are not just spikey masses--they also change as they mature, opening up in their own flowery red-orange display.

The shifting color-show and flowery centers of 'Eccentric' are very attractive to bees and butterflies. Expect 'Eccentric' to grow about 24 inches tall and almost as wide. It works well in a large container or in a sunny garden, and looks especially good in the middle of a border.

But Echinacea has long been valued for more than its decorative qualities. Echinacea was used by Native Americans of the Great Plains as a remedy for everything from cold and flue to rattlesnake bites! A doctor in the 19th century proposed it as a surefire snakebite cure, while more recently it has even been cited as a way to prevent cancer! While we don't recommend staking your life on the power of Echinacea, it is a great natural way to boost your immune system and help keep colds and flus at bay. If you are an amateur herbalist, this versatile natural remedy is a must-have for your garden and kit!

'Eccentric' likes average moisture, and becomes quite heat- and drought-tolerant once established (and pest and disease tolerant, and rain and wind tolerant--really, it's just hard to kill this little fighter). Its firey color makes it a dramatic addition to a hot-themed or prairie-style garden. Plant 'Eccentric' fearlessly among other Echinacea, as well as among other heat- and drought-tolerant perennials in the sunny garden. Be sure to grow a few extra in the cutting garden as well, to show off the majesty of these flowers indoors as well as out! Zones 4-9.

• Butterflies like a lot of sunlight, so locate your garden in a sunny area.
• If you live in a windy location, plant your butterfly-attracting plants near a building, fence, or hedge to protect them.
• Plant a variety of nectar-rich plants, as well as shrubs and evergreens for shelter.
• Since many butterflies and native flowering plants have co-evolved, try to put in some that are native to your area. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center provides lists of plants native to states and regions.
• Certain colors are particularly attracting to butterflies – red, yellow, pink, purple, or orange blooms that are clustered or flat-topped, with a short flower tubes are especially attractive to adult butterflies.
• Avoid using pesticides, especially around nectar-producing plants.
• Provide a shallow source of water – try a birdbath with pebbles lining the bowl.
• Place a rock in a sunny spot for butterfly basking and resting.
• Create a "puddling area" by digging a shallow hole filled with compost or manure where rainwater will collect and release essential salts and minerals.
• If you want butterflies to breed in your garden, put in some caterpillar food plants, such as parsley, milkweeds, asters, thistles, violets, clover, grasses, and Queen Anne’s Lace.
• Since butterflies need nectar throughout the entire adult phase of their lives, try to create a design that will allow for a continuous bloom – when one stops blooming, another starts.

Set plants 18 to 24 inches apart, in a sunny or lightly shaded location with a rich, well-drained soil.

Keep plants moist but not overly wet until established. Flowering period may be extended by deadheading (removing faded blooms). Divide every 3 years. Remove chance seedlings, as they will not come true to color.

Zones 3-9

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The dry, sparse appearance of bareroot perennials can be alarming to the novice gardener, but in reality ordering bare root is often the smarter choice. Foliage and blooms can be seductive, but the health and long-term potential of a plant truly lies in its roots. Bareroot plants have several advantages over plants in containers—bare roots are less likely to be harmed in the shipping process, their timing is easier to control, and they are field-grown for larger, healthier root systems. This why Wayside Gardens has had great success with bare root plants, and you can too!

It is safer to ship plants in bareroot form because there is no risk in harming new growth, and therefore the plant actually has a better chance of making it safely into the customer’s garden.

And thanks to refrigerated storage, the timing of bareroot perennials can be precisely controlled. "(Bareroot perennials) are dormant," explains JPPA Lead Horticulturist Benjamin Chester, "But as soon as they leave the refrigerated storage they'll begin breaking dormancy." And once the plant 'wakes up', it is ready to begin the growing season in earnest, which means it will quickly catch up to the level of container plants.

The most important benefit of bareroot perennials is that they can be field grown rather than confined to containers. The bareroot Cherry Cheesecake Hibiscus pictured hereperfectly illustrates the difference between a field-grown perennial and a containerized one. Wayside Gardens used to offer this variety in a quart container, like the Monarda next to it. But the Hibiscus was simply too cramped in that space, so Wayside switched to growing it in the earth and selling it bare root. The result is a thick, fibrous mass of roots that used to fill up several cubic feet of soil and which, even in its bare, pruned form would be too large to fit back into the 1 Quart container. What a difference a little space makes! While small and slow-growing cultivars can start well in containers, large and vigorous cultivars need more room to stretch out and develop a solid root system.