Echinacea pallida 'Hula Dancer'
(Pale Coneflower 'Hula Dancer')
Family - Asteraceae
Category - Perennial
Season of Interest - Summer, Autumn
Hardiness - H5
Height - up to 1.25m
Width - up to 50cm
Location - The Cool Garden
Description: A herbaceous Perennial with a clump-forming, upright habit. Bristly dark green leaves are lanceolate to linear in shape. Daisy-like flowerheads have slender, gracefully pendent, blush pink petals (ray florets) surrounding a domed, reddish-brown, prickly cone. The petals fade to nearly white with age. The flowers are held singly atop upright stems and are produced from midsummer into early autumn. The flowers are attractive to pollinating insects and are good for use as cut flowers.
'Echinos' is the Greek word for hedgehog, a reference to the prickly centre of the flower.
Flower:
Daisy-like flowerheads consist of narrow, reflexed, pale pink ray florets (petals) that surround a reddish-brown central cone of disc florets and stiff, pointed bracts. The flowers are held singly atop upright stems and are produced from July into September.
Flower colour: Pink
Flower shape: Daisy-like flowers, disc and ray florets, held singly
Flowering time: July, August, September
Foliage:
Bristly dark green leaves are lanceolate to linear in shape. The leaves are mostly held at the base of the plant with fewer leaves Alternately arranged on the stems.
Foliage Senescence: Deciduous
Foliage Shape: Lanceolate to linear
Pest and Diseases:
Protect the emerging leaves from slugs in spring.
Propagation:
Seed, division.
Cultivation:
Best in full sun in rich, moisture-retentive soil that is well-drained.