Echinacea purpurea 'Happy Star'- PURPLE CONEFLOWER 'HAPPY STAR'

'Happy Star' is 3' tall cultivar with white flowers and horizontally arranged petals, sturdy, vigorous and long-lived form that originates in pink cultivar 'Ruby Star'.

This nativar can still be planted in both – drier drained soils or in medium-moist / heavier soils. Doesn't flop.

Easy to grow perennial for any sunny border, half sun to half shade (woodland edge with some sun). It looks awesome in prairie style borders, conventional flower beds, public spaces and gardens, small private gardens, cottage gardens, rain gardens. The possibilities of use and combinations are nearly never ending.

From native perennials lets mention at least : Agastache, Aster, Asclepias (tuberosa, sullivantii, purpurascens), Baptisia, Eupatorium, Eryngium, Gaura, Helenium, Monarda, Phlox, Rudbeckia, Solidago, Veronicastrum, with native prairie grasses like Adropogon gerardii, Eragrostis spectabilis, Panicum virgatum, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus heterolepis, …

Unforgettable combinations paired with non-native perennials such as Eryngium, Echinops, hardy Geranium, Hemerocallis, Kniphophia, Origanum, Perovskia, grasses like Pennisetum,…

If you like annuals, combine it with single colored cultivars of Cleome, Cosmos, Zinnia or Verbena bonariensis or annual grasses like Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'  and others.

Blooming time : July to September

Size : 40-42" tall x 18" wide, spacing 18"

USDA zones : 4 to 9

Culture: sun, half sun, average soil, clay soil, loam, rocky soil, drained soils

Moisture Needs : medium, medium-dry, drought tolerant once established

Origin:  Introduced by German seed company Jelitto in 2009.

Botanical species (wild form) can be found in Eastern North America, native to moist prairies, meadows and open woods, woodland edges of the central to southeastern United States (Ohio to Michigan to Iowa south to Louisiana and Georgia). Quite uncommon in nature, but easily available on the market.

Deer/rabbit resistant : yes/yes

Attracts Butterflies or Pollinators : monarch plant and true pollinator magnet for native bees, honey bees, butterflies and skippers seek the nectar. Caterpillars of the Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly and several moths feed on the foliage and flowers. 

Attracts Hummingbirds : yes. Attracts little song birds and goldfinch feed on the seeds.

Pot Size : square 3.5" x 5" deep pot

Picture copyright : Jelitto