I went to a plant exchange in May and brought home a bunch of plants. One of them wasn't labeled and a week later I had forgotten what it was. At one point, I considered tossing it, but I knew each plant I got, I got for a reason, so I kept it. Now, I'm really glad I did!

Mid-June, I stumbled onto a picture of a plant with the same leaves..."aha, it's purple coneflower!"

...until yesterday when the petals started showing distinctly red. So, my question is: Do common purple coneflowers start with red spikes, or do I have a special type of coneflower? (I will add more pictures as the flower develops.)

It is beautiful, but it doesn't look like a regular Coneflower. It will be nice to see when it opens all the way.

Something about it doesn't look right for echinacea. The leaves and stem are different. Really curious now...

I'm not saying this is Southern belle but it looks just like mine. I don't have a pic of mine yet


http://plantsnouveau.com/echin...

Jolana said:I'm not saying this is Southern belle but it looks just like mine. I don't have a pic of mine yet


http://plantsnouveau.com/echin...

Thank you for the suggestion. I looked at the page and it IS possible mine is just a late bloomer, but the website says Southern Belle blooms mid to late June and the color looks pretty pink instead of the red or red-purple-orange look that I see on mine so far. It wouldn't surprise me if you're right and it lightened up a tad, though, as it blooms.


Now you guys are making me even more anxious to see what this flower ends up being!

I hope it is, mine is gorgeous

BTW Welcome!!!

I look at this every week. If I didn't watch it, I would spend all my grocery money, lol

https://www.pinterest.com/hmnb...

I forgot to update this, but now that it's bloomed, it is clearly a PURPLE echinacea. It was, after all, exactly what I thought I was getting, but that's not a bad thing. Now that I've posted this, I realize there are many other types/colors of coneflower and I might keep an eye out for them in the future.

Oh, that is not a disappointment at all, that is a beautiful and very healthy looking P E
Congrats, Did the leaves get a little wider?

Jolana, I think the leaves got a little wider, but unfortunately the picture above is a little deceptive. In actuality, a bunch of the petals show bug damage and a few petals have bumped off from the pot repeatedly falling over (I finally repotted it the other day though, so now it's a lot happier and more secure).

(Click on the photos for the full image.)

It's alive and is happier, can't ask for more than that sometimes,

So true. And I'm happy! I'd almost pitched it, forgetting what plant I had. I really love the look of the coneflower and purple is a good color. Until they come out with a blue coneflower, purple is the closest to a 'cool color' that I can get, I think. I am trying to add more purples and blues that bloom in the hot months because those are said to be more attractive to the eye in hot weather.

...Maybe I'll grow the white ones and water them with blue-colored water, haha! Just kidding...that wouldn't likely fit with my 'organic' gardening practices in my backyard.

Hahaha, when we move into our retirement home, I am going to have a moon garden and and blues and purples in the back, where we will be in the summer and red, orange and yellow in the front. There isn't deer there so I can plant more in the front also
That's the plan now, lol