Echinacea purpurea Pica Bella - Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea 'Pica Bella', also known as Rudbeckia purpurea 'Pica Bella', is one of the most interesting dwarf varieties. It is a floriferous perennial with a compact habit, and its bright pink flowers with prominent orange hearts bloom from July to September. Truly beautiful and intensely cheerful, this highly acclaimed plant is ideal for cutting or drying. It is also a very resilient plant that adapts to difficult conditions, tolerating intense heat, humidity, and drought. It can even thrive in poor soils.

Native to the western United States, from Georgia to Michigan, passing through Oklahoma and Ohio, Rudbeckia purpurea is a resilient perennial with a strong character. It doesn't resemble anything known, but confidently colonizes rocky meadows, savannas, clear understories, and road edges in its natural habitat. 'Pica Bella' is a dwarf form of this formidable pioneer. It exhibits a compact, dense, and sturdy clump habit, reaching a height of 50 cm (20in) and a width of 35 cm (14in). This plant does not weaken or collapse, demonstrating excellent durability. The deciduous lanceolate green leaves are oppositely arranged and covered in rough hairs. The flowering occurs in late summer, accompanying the blooming of inulas, asters, and ornamental tobaccos. It is visited by butterflies. The reddish-green branching stems are topped with a solitary head-like inflorescence, measuring 8cm (3in) in diameter. The prominent disc is bristly and orangish-brown, while the ligules are intensely bright pink. The fruit is an achene that releases seeds which birds find delectable. This plant firmly and deeply anchors itself in the soil with its highly developed root system.

Rudbeckia purpurea Pica Bella offers a vibrant and colourful flowering display, especially enjoyable on slightly misty autumn days. It is used in border plantings mixed with other varieties or in the company of inulas, asters, yarrows, daisies, echinops, phlox, and lightened up with some ornamental grasses like Stipa tenuifolia and Muhlenbergia capillaris. Splendid in flower beds, the beautiful colours of purple Echinacea 'Pica Bella' are also stunning in fresh or dried flower arrangements.

Properties: In homeopathy, its root is used to combat colds and strengthen the immune system. These properties were already used by Native Americans. The name Echinacea comes from the Greek echinos, meaning "bristly or like a hedgehog," and acea, meaning "having the shape of," alluding to the flower heads. Purpurea means "purple."