Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit'

Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit': One Plant, a Whole Sunset's Worth

Buy a handful of this coneflower and you never quite know what you're getting: red, orange, scarlet, purple, yellow, cream or white. It's a grab bag where EVERY PRIZE IS A WINNER. Heat and drought just make it show off.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Echinacea hybrid
• Common Name: Coneflower
• Height: 55–75 cm (22–30 in)
• Spread: 35–50 cm (14–20 in)
• Flowers: Single daisy-like blooms around a raised cone, in a mix of red, orange, scarlet, purple, yellow, cream and white. Each plant has one colour.
• Bloom Time: Summer to early fall (July to September)
• Foliage: Coarse, dark green, lance-shaped leaves on well-branched stems
• Features: 2013 All-America Selections winner, heat tolerant, good cut flower

Where to Plant: Mass it in a sunny border or a prairie-style planting to get the full mixed effect, and add some to a pollinator garden or cutting bed. It handles hot, dry summers and the lean soil near driveways, and the seed heads left standing feed goldfinches in fall.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Cheyenne Spirit' in a sunny, dry bed where its mixed colours meet blue spikes and tall bluestem. Dianthus Star™ Single 'Neon Star' edges the front with magenta pinks at 15 to 20 cm from May to September. Salvia 'White Profusion' adds white spikes at 41 to 51 cm from June to August. Baptisia australis brings indigo-blue spikes at 90 to 120 cm in May and June. Andropogon gerardii rises at the back to 120 to 200 cm, turning copper-bronze in fall.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average, well-drained soil. Heavy clay is fine if it doesn't stay wet, especially in winter, when soggy crowns can rot. Water regularly through the first season, then only during long droughts. Skip the rich fertilizer; it makes stems floppy. Deadhead through summer for more flowers, then let the last ones go to seed for birds and winter interest. Cut the old stems back in early spring. Because it's grown from seed, expect some variety in height and colour from plant to plant.

History: 'Cheyenne Spirit' was bred by Ping Ren for PanAmerican Seed and Kieft Seed in Elburn, Illinois, and it won an All-America Selections award for 2013 as well as a Fleuroselect Gold Medal. Coneflowers themselves are native to the prairies and open woods of central and eastern North America.

Final Thoughts: Plant a group of five and let the colours fight it out. THE ONLY SURPRISE PARTY ANYBODY ACTUALLY ENJOYS.