Echinacea Sunny Days Ruby - Purple Coneflower

Echinacea 'Sunny Days Ruby' is the reddest variety of the excellent Sunny Days rudbeckia series which brings together plants remarkable in every way. With a compact and upright habit, this selection bears very large, double flowers, vividly coloured from dark to ruby red. It is a hardy and generous perennial that blooms throughout the summer. Ideal in a pot or in a border, it adapts to all properly prepared soils, not too dry in summer. 

Native to the western United States, from Georgia to Michigan through Oklahoma and Ohio, Rudbeckia purpurea is a perennial with a strong character that colonizes rocky prairies, savannas, clear understories and roadside edges in its natural habitat. 'Sunny Days Ruby' is part of a recently developed hybrid lineage in the USA by Terra Nova Nurseries. It forms a dense and compact clump 45 cm (18in) tall and 60 cm (24in) wide. This plant does not weaken or collapse, showing very good holding. The opposite lanceolate, dark green leaves are covered in rough hairs. The abundant flowering extends from July to October, and is loved by butterflies. The branched stems are each terminated by a solitary flower head, adorned with a large, bristly pompom, surrounded by petals or ligules. The fruit is an achene releasing seeds that birds are fond of. This plant anchors itself firmly and deeply in the soil, thanks to its highly developed root system. 

'Sunny Days' Rudbeckia can be grown in pots or in the ground. This perennial can be planted in mixed borders with other varieties of compact echinaceas or with compact kniphofias, achilleas, daisies, 'Echinops, coreopsis. Lighten up by mixing in some ornamental grasses like Stipa tenuifolia and Muhlenbergia capillaris... Gorgeous in borders, the beautiful colours of echinacea are also highly appreciated in fresh or dried flower bouquets. 

A medicinal plant : In homoeopathy, the root of echinacea is used to fight colds and strengthen the immune system. These properties were first used by Native Americans. The name Echinacea comes from the Greek echinos which means "hairy or like a hedgehog" and acea for "having the shape of", referring to the appearance of the flower's centre.