Echinacea purpurea 'Ruby Star' - Coneflower
DESCRIPTION
ConeflowerEchinacea purpurea 'Ruby Star'
Introduced by the Jelitto, who gave us 'Magnus', Echinacea 'Rubinstern' is a slightly shorter plant with large flat topped flowers that are a deeper purple pink, almost ruby red, than most others. An easy to grow native plant with large, dark green leaves and a large, 3-4" flower with broad deep pink, ruby to purple petals that surround a brown/bronze cone. Plants are tough and heat and drought tolerant once established. Their roots have famous medicinal qualities, they make great, long-lasting, cut flowers and attract numerous butterflies and small birds.
BENEFITS
- Attracts butterflies in large numbers
- Hummingbirds thrive on the sweet nectar
- Finches crave its seed in the fall
- Long blooming and a colorful cut flower
- Drought tolerant once established
- Looks terrific planted with native grasses
NATIVE INFO
Native Range
Moist prairies and meadows and gaps in low woods; Ohio to Michigan and Iowa south to Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Georgia.
Map Credit: The Biota of North America
Map Key: Green (native), Teal (native, adventive), Blue (present), Yellow (present & rare), Red (extinct)
Interesting Facts
Coneflowers do double duty when it comes to benefiting wildlife. The new flowers provide nectar for butterflies and other pollinators while old flowers provide seed for songbirds.
GROWING TIPS
Plant coneflowers in full sun and well-drained soils. they prefer moist or average soils, but once established will tolerate dry soils. Go easy on fertilizer, especially in production, as the resulting quick growth seems to make the plant more susceptible to disease.