Echinacea or coneflower is a beautiful American Native Prairie Flower. In recent years however, I am seeing more and more hybrids of Echinacea. A recent trip to a nursery showed this white flowered echinacea above and the one below entitled "gum drop".
While hybrids are fun, the native Echinacea (below) offers colorful blooms for about a month in late summer, is disease resistant AND offers the medicinal properties of immune system boosting. When plants are hybridized to have different color flowers or a longer blooming season or for any reason really, the medicinal constituents in the plant are then compromised so often it is not nearly as effective medicinally.
So that's what my coneflower is! You gals are just full of great information.
ReplyDeleteLove this flower in all it's varieties.
ReplyDeleteThis *must* be the hardiest of plants, because it is growing in the traffic islands downtown where I work, and despite very little rain it is growing beautifully!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen the gumdrop ones! It kinda looks like it's having a bad hair day. LOL! The purple variety blooms profusely here.
ReplyDelete