Echinacea Sweet Sandia - Purple Coneflower

Echinacea Sweet Sandia is undoubtedly one of the most astonishing novelties among Rudbeckias. This selection produces single flowers with wide petals that evoke a slice of watermelon with their green, pink, and red colours. Its compact habit and numerous flowering stems make it a perfect fit for gardens and terraces. It is a robust perennial that blooms throughout the summer. As beautiful as it is generous, this plant feeds pollinators and birds such as the elegant goldfinch, who enjoy its seeds. 

Native to the Western United States, from Georgia to Michigan, passing through Oklahoma and Ohio, the Rudbeckia purpurea is a perennial with a strong character, unlike anything known, but confidently colonizes rocky meadows, savannas, clear undergrowth, and roadside edges in its natural habitat. 'Sweet Sandia' is a hybrid form derived from this robust pioneer, among others. It forms a dense and compact clump, reaching a height of 50-60 cm (20-24in) and a width of 40-50 cm (16-20in). This plant does not weaken or collapse, showing excellent posture. The opposite lanceolate, dark green leaves, are covered in rough hairs. The abundant flowering takes place from July to October and is loved by butterflies. The branched stems are each topped with a solitary flower head with a prominent central red cone with orange hues which then turns brown. It is surrounded by bicoloured petals or ligules, dark pink bordered by lemon green. The fruit is an achene that releases seeds sought after by birds. This plant firmly and deeply anchors itself in the soil, thanks to its well-developed root system. 

Rudbeckia Sweet Sandia can be grown in pots or in open ground. This perennial can be nestled in mixed borders with other varieties of echinaceas or in the company of inulas, compact tritomas, yarrows, daisies, Echinops, and coreopsis... Lighten the scene by mixing in some ornamental grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia. Splendid 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 word echinos, which means "hairy or like a hedgehog," and acea, meaning "having the shape of," referring to the appearance of the flower's centre.