Wild Berry Coneflower Seeds

No wonder Wild Berry won an All-America Selection Award (and continues to pile up honors). It’s not only the most brilliantly colored echinacea yet but also the best branched, which means more flowers all season. It doesn’t need to be deadheaded to set new buds, so the flowers just keep coming. And it’s compact, so you can grow it in a container if you like or squeeze it into that crowded sunny border. Oh, and did we mention that it blooms the first year—just 20 weeks from sowing the seed.

We just can’t describe how many terrific new things are happening at once in this echinacea. It’s truly a breakthrough for the Echinacea purpurea species. The bloom color is fade-proof and absolutely unique. (The flowers make terrific everlastings as well as fresh-cut bouquets, by the way.) The flowers are so profuse on these compact little plants, beginning in early summer and then going right into fall until nipped back by frost. Like all echinacea, PowWow Wild Berry attracts butterflies and bees to the fresh blooms in summer and birds to the seed-filled cones in autumn and winter. It’s simply a magnificent addition to any garden.

This plant reaches just 20 to 24 inches high when not in bloom, and spreads 12 to 16 inches wide. Despite this small size, it bears more blooms than just about any other echinacea we’ve ever grown. The flowers add another 9 to 12 inches to the plant’s height, giving you thick, long lasting stems for the vase. And you don’t have to keep up with pinching off the fading blooms.

Adaptable to just about any climate in the United States and indifferent to extremes of heat, humidity, cold, and even drought, Wild Berry thrives in any well-drained soil. It will bloom best in full sun and good garden soil that dries out just a bit between waterings, but it can take almost any conditions your garden and Mother Nature throws its way.

The most exciting feature of this seed is its ability to bloom—and bloom profusely—the first summer from a winter to early spring sowing. For longest season, begin it indoors in late January. For best first-year flowering, sow the seeds right after you receive them, especially if you live in a short-season climate. (Before the end of January is ideal.) Place them on top of damp, but not wet, soil. (Your Bio Dome offers the ideal medium; just place the seed on top of the bio sponge, next to the hole. If it accidentally drops into the hole, no problem—it will grow from there too.) Germinate at about 65 to 70°F, then grown on (after they have sprouted) at 55 to 65°F. When they have 2 sets of true leaves and the garden soil is warm enough to work with, they are ready to transplant into the sunny garden.

We recommend this echinacea very, very highly. It has won honors by the handful in competitions from Massachusetts to Florida—a good indication of just how versatile and dependable this perennial is from north to south. You will be delighted by how quickly it grows, how beautifully it branches, and how profuse (and early) it flowers. The color is enchanting, too. Start it this season and tell us how it performed in your garden.