Our native purple coneflower has always been a garden favorite, and well-known for its easy growth, love of sun and tolerance of poor, dry soil. But there is always something a bit ‘sad’ about the flowers, with their drooping petals, and that color is a bit ‘washed out’, don’t you think? So let’s upgrade to the Pow Wow® Wild Berry Coneflower – much more vigorous and prolific in its blooms than its wild parent, with broad petals that stand horizontal. Best of all are its rich berry pink flowers, a bright rose-purple that really sparkles in your garden. Coneflowers are great, because they look perfectly at home in every setting, from the most organized and formal beds to casual cottage gardens, and they even brighten that area of rough grass you are always meaning to get to. A little more compact than wild coneflowers, topping out at just 2 feet tall, with a full, more bushy form, you won’t need to do a thing to enjoy this great plant, it is totally self-sufficient once it is established. Don’t forget to cut a few for a vase – they last forever, and leave the seed heads as winter food for the goldfinches – they deserve a hand getting through that cold.

Growing the Pow Wow® Wild Berry Coneflower

Size and Appearance

The Pow Wow Wild Berry Coneflower is a perennial herbaceous plant. It dies down in winter each year to the roots, sprouting back again in spring with renewed vigor and more blooms. Each year it starts with a mound of oval leaves that are dark-green and rough to the touch. Once summer is underway it sends up many flower stems to about 2 feet above the ground, each one branching into several large flowers, each 3 to 4 inches across, with a soft, sweet fragrance. They have an outer circle of broad petals marked with several long veins, of a wonderful purple-pink color – much brighter than the traditional coneflower. These surround a large central cone that is burnt orange and brown. The blooms don’t fade or burn in the sun. Blooms last for weeks, gradually fading, but replaced by more during the early parts of the season. The petals begin pointing upwards, and then take a horizontal position, only dropping a little lower when they have aged. The petals eventually drop, but the cone remains, packed with seeds that are a winter bounty for goldfinches and other seed-eating birds. The flowers are often visited by bees and butterflies during the season.

Using the Pow Wow® Wild Berry Coneflower in Your Garden

The Pow Wow Wild Berry Coneflower is a wonderful addition to garden beds, either with other flowering perennial plants, or mixed with your shrubs. It is especially valuable for later color, so that you can keep your garden display going strong from spring to fall. The color is a perfect bridge between pinks and purples, tying your color arrangements into a flowing image. It’s the perfect late-season flowers – tough, easy and reliable. Grow it in casual cottage beds too, or in wild and xeric gardens (it’s drought resistant). In nature it grows in grassy prairies, so plant it, along with other sun-lovers like Agastache, or Butterfly Weed, in an area of rough grass, for your very own prairie look. The flowers also cut well for vases and flower arranging.

Hardiness

The Pow Wow Wild Berry Coneflower grows well even in zone 3, yet it blooms all across the country into zone 9. Cold, heat, humidity – it doesn’t matter.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Grow the Pow Wow Wild Berry Coneflower in full sun for the best results. Gardeners in Florida report that it does better there with some afternoon shade, so give it that, if you can, in zones 8 and 9. It grows well in any well-drained soil, of all types. It will probably grow most prolifically in richer soils, but it’s perfectly happy in poor soils too, including urban conditions and rough ground. Water regularly the first season – after that it is very drought resistant.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Pow Wow Wild Berry Coneflower is incredibly low-maintenance. One annual cutting down, either in late fall or early spring, is all it needs. You can remove early flower spikes once they go over, to encourage more, but leave the last ones for the birds. Pests and diseases almost never strike, and deer know they are not good to eat.

History and Origin of the Pow Wow® Wild Berry Coneflower

The botanical name of the coneflower is Echinacea, which means ‘spiny one’, because that cone looks like a sea urchin. With just 10 species scattered across eastern and northern North America, the most widespread and popular in gardens is the purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. It grows from southern Canada to Georgia and Louisiana, in open grasslands and grassy woods. It is a vital part of the prairie ecosystem that used to cover so much of the Midwest, before settlement.

Today there are many different varieties breeders have developed, and while some are grown from plant pieces, usually in a lab, many are still grown from seeds. The variety officially called ‘Pas702917’ was developed by PanAmerican Seed Europe, a division of Balls Horticulture, and Florensis, a Dutch cut-flower producer. In 2011 it was granted Plant Breeders Rights in the European Union. It is released as the color Wild Berry, in the trademarked series, Pow Wow®.

Buying the Pow Wow® Wild Berry Coneflower at the Tree Center

This terrific coneflower won the top flower award in 2010 at the prestigious All America Selections (AAS) trials, where plants are tested growing alongside each other. You know from that how good it is, and what a winner it will be in your garden. Order now, and sit back for summers of color and beauty, even in those tough parts of your garden.