Echinacea SunMagic® Vintage Hot Red

Echinacea SunMagic® Vintage Hot Red: A Small Mound of Pure Scarlet Heat

Vivid red petals, deep red cone and not one drop of any other colour. This coneflower is the red sports car of the border: compact, heat tolerant and IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE PAST WITHOUT LOOKING.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Echinacea hybrid
• Common Name: Coneflower
• Series: SunMagic® Vintage, from Bull Plant Genetics
• Height: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Flowers: Large, open daisies with vivid red petals and a deep red cone
• Bloom Time: Summer to early fall (July to September)
• Foliage: Green, on a compact, mounding, well-branched plant
• Features: Heat tolerant, good cut flower

Where to Plant: Use it at the front or middle of a sunny border, or as the hot spot in a big patio pot. Its compact size suits small city gardens where a full-sized coneflower would be too much.

Companion Plants: Plant Vintage Hot Red in a sunny, dry bed with purple pea flowers, white calamint and late pink sedum. Sedum sieboldii edges the front at 15 to 23 cm with blue-grey leaves and pink flowers in September and October. Calamintha nepeta subsp. nepeta adds clouds of tiny white flowers at 30 to 40 cm from June to September. Baptisia 'Grape Escape' brings dusky purple spikes at 105 to 120 cm in May and June. Festuca Beyond Blue™ adds intense blue tufts at 23 to 30 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun for the best colour and the most flowers, in average, well-drained soil. Heavy clay is fine if the spot doesn't stay soggy in winter, since wet crowns are the main reason hybrid coneflowers fail to return. Water regularly the first summer, then only during long dry spells. Go easy on fertilizer. Deadhead to keep the show going into September. Leave the last seed heads for the birds and cut stems back in early spring. Divide in spring only when the clump gets crowded.

History: The SunMagic® Vintage coneflowers were bred in Germany by Bull Plant Genetics, with a focus on plants that branch from the base and stay compact. The genus name Echinacea comes from the Greek for hedgehog, after the spiny cone.

Final Thoughts: Park it in the sunniest spot you've got. NO LEASE PAYMENTS. NO SPEEDING TICKETS.