Echinacea P. ‘White Swan’ 2Gal

Latin Name: Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan'

Common Name: White Swan Coneflower

Zones: 3–8

Height & Spread: 2–3 feet tall, spreading 1–2 feet wide

Descriptive Features: One of the few white-flowered perennials to bloom in late summer, offering the same size, vigor, and large flowers as the more common lavender-pink coneflowers, but in pure white. Deep green, thick, serrated foliage forms a dense basal mound that gives rise to sturdy, pubescent flower stalks topped by big, squat buds in mid-June. Buds unfurl into large, 3–4-inch, honey-scented white daisies with broad, silky petals that reflex away from a striking coppery-bronze to neon-orange central cone, blooming from early to late summer, sometimes with sporadic rebloom until frost. Forms small colonies from short, thick rhizomes over time. Somewhat less cold-hardy and vigorous than its purple-flowered relatives, but a tough, heat- and drought-tolerant performer once established. Deer-resistant and a strong draw for native bees, butterflies, and skippers, with dried seed heads providing winter food for birds if left standing. An elegant choice for perennial borders, cottage gardens, prairies, meadows, or cutting gardens in full sun to part shade.