Echinacea purpurea
150 seeds
Maturity: 110 days
Certified organic seed grown by Horton Nash at 6,300 feet in Paonia, CO.
Echinacea is a hardy, easy to grow flower native to the American Midwest and Southwest but still thrives in northern conditions. Large flowers have pretty purple petals that fall downward around stunning ornamental centers and attract a variety of pollinators, particularly the Monarch butterfly. Vigorous, straight stemmed plants grow 24-36" and add intrigue to flower beds. A popular medicinal herb used as an immune stimulant, plant parts are often used in tea or tincture with roots able to be harvested after 3-4 years of growth. Known for being heat and cold tolerant as well as resistant to deer. Can perennialize down to Zone 3.
Echinacea seeds should be cold stratified for 30 days prior to planting and germinated in warm conditions at 70–75°F then can go down to 60°F. May not flower until second year but has been a very reliable, cold-tolerant perennial in our subsistence garden once it was established.