Echinacea purpurea Lakota Red - Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea 'Lakota Red' is a variety of Echinacea from the Artisan collection, which produces a colourful flowering throughout the summer on sturdy stems. This variety has a vibrant red colour. The flowers, resembling large daisies, with horizontal or slightly trailing petals, gradually fade as they wither, creating a range of shades from the brightest red to the softest red. It forms a well-branched plant of medium size with vibrant green foliage. Its petals surround a voluminous cone. It brightens up flower beds, sunny borders, or flowering pots from the first year and makes beautiful long-lasting bouquets.

Echinacea purpurea 'Lakota Red' belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is a horticultural creation derived, among others, from Echinacea purpurea, native to the western United States, from Georgia to Michigan, passing through Oklahoma and Ohio. This perennial, with a strong character, confidently colonizes rocky meadows, savannas, open woodlands, and roadside edges in its natural habitat. 'Lakota Red' has a sturdy, bushy, upright, and dense habit, reaching a height of 50 to 70cm (20 to 28in) with an equivalent width. The opposing, lanceolate leaves are green and covered in rough hairs. Flowering occurs from July to September, and the slightly fragrant flowers are highly visited by butterflies. The branched stems are topped with a solitary head, measuring 10 to 12cm (4 to 5in) in diameter, with a prominent, bristly, brown-green disc with orange highlights, surrounded by a collar of horizontal or slightly trailing ligules in a vibrant red colour. The fruit is an achene that releases seeds that birds enjoy. This plant anchors firmly and deeply in the soil thanks to its highly developed root system.

Echinacea 'Lakota Red' is a highly resistant plant that adapts to difficult conditions, tolerating intense heat, humidity, and drought. Its remarkably colourful flowering brings dynamism and cheerfulness to flower beds. Combine it with flowers of similar colours but different shapes, such as digitalis, Achilleas, daylilies, or Monardas. Its warm colours are beautifully complemented by the golden or pink spikes of ornamental grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia, Schizachyrium scoparium, or Muhlenbergia capillaris. Its vibrant combination with another foliage plant, Alchemilla vulgaris, is stunning. Finally, it brightens up fresh or dried flower bouquets.