Echinacea Funky Yellow - Purple Coneflower

Echinacea 'Funky Yellow' is a brand new variety derived from Echinacea purpurea. Vigorous, floriferous, and resistant, it stands out with its unusual and vibrant bicolour flowering in red and gold. The flower displays a garnish of thread-like and upright petals in a harmonious mix of colours around a prominent central cone, creating a striking visual effect. This echinacea is a generous plant that will flower from summer until the first frost in sunny flowerbeds. It adapts to challenging conditions, tolerating occasional intense heat, humidity, and drought. Echinacea is useful for birds and pollinators and has its rightful place in a nature garden.

Native to the western United States, from Georgia to Michigan through Oklahoma and Ohio, Echinacea is a perennial with a strong character that confidently colonizes rocky meadows, savannas, clear undergrowth, and roadside edges in its natural habitat.

'Funky Yellow' brings something new to this intrepid pioneer: a crown of small upright petals around the central cone. This vigorous plant has a bushy tufted habit, reaching 75 cm (30in) high and 40-45 cm (16-18in) wide. Its upright, rigid, and rough stems bear opposite deciduous lanceolate green leaves covered in rough hairs. The flowering period extends from July to September-October, accompanying all the summer flowers and is loved by butterflies. The unbranched stems are each topped by a solitary 6-7 cm (2-3in) diameter head with a large and prominent central disc, initially olive green then brown-red. This central cone is surrounded by a row of short and thin upright ligules or petals, red with yellow reverses, then a second row of much larger drooping ligules, yellow with a red base. The fruit is an achene that releases seeds which are eagerly consumed by birds. This plant firmly and deeply anchors itself in the soil with its highly developed root system.

'Funky Yellow' Echinacea, with its long and somewhat psychedelic flowering, will bring a lot of dynamism and originality to sunny flowerbeds. Very easy to grow in ordinary soil, it also thrives in containers. It mixes well with other echinaceas (Eccentric, Green Jewel), as well as yarrows, small daisies ('Engelina', 'Princesse d'argent'), echinops, and heleniums in warm colours. Lighten the scene by adding some ornamental grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia, Muhlenbergia capillaris, Pennisetum orientale Karley Rose... The beautiful flowers of the 'Funky Yellow' purple echinacea are also very attractive in fresh or dried flower arrangements.

Properties: In homoeopathy, its root is used to fight against colds and strengthen the immune system. These properties were first used by Native Americans. The name Echinacea comes from the Greek echinos, which means "hedgehog-like," and acea, which means "having the shape of," alluding to the flower heads. Purpurea means "purple."