Echinacea Secret Lust - Purple Coneflower

'Secret Lust' Purple Coneflower is a compact variety that is highly floriferous in summer, with a flamboyant colour. It is a vigorous and easy-to-grow perennial whose flowers display a prominent pompom-shaped centre resting on a crown of slender ligules that transition from orange to scarlet. These intense colours do not fade, in the sun in flower beds or in dried or fresh bouquets. It will bring life to borders and flower beds until the first frost.

Coneflower is a hardy perennial plant belonging to the aster family, native to the western United States. 'Secret Lust' is an improved horticultural selection derived from this species. Like all the varieties in the "Secret" series, this selection is sterile and has an endless flowering period, with flowers durable in vases and flower beds, and exceptional colour. The plant slowly forms a dense and sturdy clump, reaching 60 cm (24in) high and 40 cm (16in) wide. The stems are strong and well-held, and the vegetation does not collapse. The opposite, lanceolate, green leaves are covered in rough hairs. Fragrant flowering occurs from July to the end of summer, accompanying asters and ornamental tobacco plants, loved by butterflies. The branched, reddish-coloured flower stalks each terminate in a large solitary head measuring 8 cm (3in) in diameter with a prominent disc composed of tiny florets ranging from bright orange to scarlet red with thin, slightly trailing ligules around the centre. Birds are fond of the fruits that follow. This plant firmly and deeply anchors itself in the soil with its well-developed root system. It withstands frost well and is drought-tolerant.

'Secret Lust' Purple Coneflower has a vibrant flowering display until the onset of autumn. It can be used in border plantings alongside daisies, Echinops ritro thistles, or gauras, for example. Lighten up the scene by mixing in California poppies, bronze fennel, or ornamental grasses like Stipa tenuifolia or Muhlenbergia capillaris. Its colours are splendid in flower beds and bouquets.