Echinacea purpurea ‘Mellow Scarlets’ – ( Coneflower)

Description

Picture thanks to Jelitto seeds

These hybrids are sturdy plants and the colours range from brilliant orange , light red through to dark red. They flower in the first year from seed, and make an excellent cut flower.  Their cones, once the flowers have finished are also very decorative and can be used for floral work.  Bees and butterflies love them , and they produce lots of flowers.  These plants are also sweetly scented, due to the crossing of E. purpurea with E. paradoxa (which is fragrant).  The plant has a long flowering period from summer right into autumn and lasting until  the first frosts. They will grow in almost any garden soil, so long as it is well drained, and make an attractive tidy clump of low growing leaves from which the lovely flowers arise.

Note: approx 10 seeds in packet

Sowing advice for Echinacea

Sow spring, summer and autumn, in trays or pots .
Sow onto moist well-drained seed raising mix. Cover thinly with soil. ( they need darkness to germinate)Ideal temp 20°C. Keep soil moist but not saturated.
Germination occurs in 10 -20 days. If seeds have not germinated, then seal the pot in a plastic bag and put into the fridge for 4 weeks. Check weekly , and if germination has occurred for some seeds then bring the whole pot out of the fridge to the warmth for germination and remove the plastic .Keep moist