Echinacea purpurea Delicious Candy - Purple coneflower

The 'Delicious Candy' Echinacea is a variety of Echinacea that combines many qualities. It is an exceptionally floriferous selection, vividly pink in colour, with compact and vigorous vegetation. Easy to grow in regular soil, this perennial is covered in flowers from mid to late summer. Invite it into your sunny flower beds and large borders! And create beautiful bouquets with its fresh or dried flowers.

The 'Delicious Candy' Echinacea x purpurea belongs to the Asteraceae family. This cultivar is the result of cross-breeding different species native to North American prairies. This variety has strong, ramified stems and a dense clumping habit, reaching 60cm in height and 40cm in width. This plant doesn't weaken or collapse, demonstrating very good stability. Its lanceolate, green, oppositely arranged leaves are covered in rough hairs. 'Delicious Candy' has one of the earliest flowering periods among Echinaceas. It starts in July, earlier or later depending on the climate, and continues until the end of summer. The plant produces a great number of flowers that are highly visited by butterflies. The ramified, greenish-red inflorescence terminates in a solitary 5-6cm in diameter head, with a prominent disc and tiny magenta rose florets resembling a pompom. This large heart is surrounded by a double row of ligules or horizontal petals in fuchsia pink. The fruit is an achene releasing seeds that birds love. This plant firmly and deeply anchors itself in the soil with its well-developed root system. Its above-ground vegetation, deciduous, emerges in spring and dries out in autumn.

The 'Delicious Candy' Echinacea is a remarkable border plant, especially for its generous and vibrant flowering. This Echinacea can be planted mixed with other flowers in shades of pink, white, mauve, or even lavender blue, with contrasting forms (beebalms, bushy salvias, lavenders, panicle phlox, carnations). It also pairs well with yarrows, daisies, and summer asters. The intense pink colour of the 'Delicious Candy' Echinacea is also beautiful in fresh or dried flower bouquets.

The scent of Echinacea varies depending on the stage of flowering. Initially, when the florets are in an upright crown, the scent is barely noticeable. At full bloom, when the florets droop as if drained of their strength, it exhales a delicate honey scent that is very attractive to bees, butterflies, and other insects. Once the head is pollinated, the scent takes on a more vanilla note.

Benefits: In homeopathy, its root is used to fight against colds and to strengthen the immune system. These properties were already used by Native Americans. The name Echinacea comes from the Greek word echinos, which means "hedgehog-like," and acea, meaning "having the form of," alluding to the flower heads. Purpurea means "purple."