Echinacea purpurea Piccolino - Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpura Piccolino is a brand new variety of Purple Coneflower that was awarded at the Saint-Jean de Beauregard plant festival for its small size, floribundity, and remarkably colourful flowering, pleasantly eccentric. Its flowers, to say the least, are original, with beautiful heads that develop a double, conical and tousled green centre, surrounded by trailing ligules, evolving from almost red to orange-pink and finally fuchsia pink when fully bloomed. This vigorous little perennial, which flowers in intense colours all summer long, doesn't go unnoticed in sunny borders. Its small stature is particularly suitable for ornamenting terraces and balconies. 

Native to the western United States, Echinacea purpurea is a perennial with a strong character, which unabashedly colonizes rocky meadows, savannas, clear undergrowth, and roadside edges in its natural environment. Piccolino is a rather astonishing French descendant of this formidable pioneer, with a very pronounced duplication at the level of the central disc. The plant has a very compact tufted habit, reaching 30-35cm (12-14in) in height and 40-45cm (16-18in) in width. Its short and sturdy stems show good resistance. The green leaves are covered with rough hairs. The flowering, which is both melliferous and nectariferous, takes place from June to September, and is very popular with butterflies. The stems are topped by a solitary inflorescence in small 4-5cm (2in) in diameter heads, which may seem simple at first. As the hours go by, a prominent central disc rises, giving the flower's heart the appearance of a tousled and velvety pompom formed by tiny florets. Around the disc, the deep pink ligules are rather short and strongly curved backwards. On the periphery, they are longer and lighter pink. This plant firmly and deeply roots itself in the soil, thanks to its well-developed root system.

Purple Echinacea Piccolino offers an incredibly vibrant flowering, animated by a constant flight of butterflies, enjoyable to contemplate throughout the summer. It is used in mass borders mixed with other pink flowers with contrasting shapes (perennial or shrubby salvias, dwarf gladioli, daylilies, carnations). Lighten the scene by mixing in some ornamental grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia, Muhlenbergia capillaris...Splendid in borders, the beautiful colour of the purple Echinacea Piccolino makes a sensation in flowerbeds, planters, and potted plants.

The scent of Echinacea varies depending on the stage of flowering. At first, when the florets are in an upright crown, the scent is barely perceptible. When fully bloomed, as the florets droop as if drained of their strength, it exhales a subtle honey scent, very attractive to bees, butterflies, and other insects. Once the head is pollinated, the scent takes on a more vanilla note. 

Medicinal properties: In homeopathy, its root is used to fight colds and strengthen the immune system. These properties were already used by Native Americans.