Purple coneflower "PolyNation TM White" Baltic Agro 5 seeds

• Species: Echinacea purpurea — purple coneflower, perennial
• Variety: "PollyNation™ White" — white rays, dark centre
• Note: FastraX — flowers in its first year
• Height: 65 cm
• Producer: Baltic Agro (Estonia)
• Pack: 5 seeds
• Sowing: February
• Flowering: July — September
• Site: sunny and warm, drought tolerant

Sow in February. To flower in its first year the coneflower needs a long growing season. A later sowing gives only a rosette of leaves the first year, with flowers the following summer.

Sun and warmth. Choose the sunniest spot you have: in shade the stems go weak and the plant flops while in flower.

Less is more. Do not overfeed or overwater — coneflower prefers dry to wet and rots in rich, sodden soil.

Leave the seed heads for winter. Do not cut them down in autumn: they decorate the winter border and feed the birds. Clear them in spring.

Division. Divide the clump after three or four years — the old centre dies out and the plant thins; divided, it grows strongly again.