Echinacea or Coneflower are becoming increasingly popular in British gardens for late summer colour. With a multitude of colours to choose from, these drought tolerant plants look good with grasses and other late flowering perennials, particularly in prairie style plantings.
The cone shaped flowers are excellent for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Their prickly centres also give echinacea its name, for Ekhînos is Greek for ‘spiny’, meaning hedgehog. To feature Echinacea in your pollinator garden, plant in full sun with well-drained soil, add a water source, limit pesticide use and you are good to go!
Did you know?
The roots of Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angustifolia were traditionally used by Native Americans to heal a wide range of ailments.
Today, you find extracts in various herbal relief remedies often touting immune boosting benefits.
Make sure you check with your health care practitioner before taking echinacea medicinally, as some people are allergic.
SKIMMIA
Low-maintenance, slow-growing, hardy evergreen shrubs for shadier borders. Their flowers bloom in spring and female skimmia’s produce beautiful red or white berries in the autumn. (They need a male plant growing nearby for pollination!)
Younger plants look good in containers and hanging baskets.
