Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ on 6-6-17, #342-6.
‘PowWow® White’ & ‘PowWow®Wild Berry’
Echinacea purpurea
ek-in-AY-shee-a pur-PUR-ee-uh
2010 All-America Selections Winner
Echinacea purpurea (L) Moench is the accepted scientific name for the Eastern Purple Coneflower. The genus and species were named and described as such by Conrad Moench in Methodus Plantas Horti Botanici et Agri Marburgensis in 1794. It was first named Rudbeckia purpurea by Carl von Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753.
As of 11-30-23 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online by Kew lists 9 species in the Echinacea genus. It is a member of the plant family Asteraceae with 1,702 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on POWO. The number of genera in the family fluctuates quite often.
I brought home my first Echinacea purpurea “PowWow® Series” from Wagler’s Greenhouse on 6-6-17. I had been wanting to grow Echinacea purpurea but I didn’t especially want a cultivar. Some of their petals don’t droop like the native species. I didn’t know what color its flowers would be when I brought it home and it had no flowers when I bought it.
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ on 6-11-17, #343-13.
I think the PowWow® series of Echinacea purpurea is a PanAmerican Seed introduction. Their website says this series put more flowers on every plant than any other seed-grown Echinacea. I also found out there are two color varieties, ‘White and ‘Wild Berry’. If anyone finds out it isn’t a PanAmerican introduction, please let me know.
I have been tempted to dig a few Echinacea purpurea growing along the highway. There is a business down the street with a bed full of them (a cultivar) so In 2018, I dug a few divisions and brought them home. Well, I took her eggs and offered to clean up the bed for a few divisions… She agreed even though she was just leasing the building. You can view the Echinacea purpurea page HERE… I would prefer the native species so I can get them growing on the farm…
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ bud on 6-11-17, #343-14.
This plant was good-sized when I brought it home but I was anxious to see what the flower was going to look like. I was so glad to see this bud on June 11.
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ on 6-18-17, #345-16.
By June 18 I still wasn’t sure what color the flower would be. I was so tempted to peel it apart a little but I waited.
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ on 6-24-17, #349-32.
After a few days, I could tell it was going to be white.
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® Wild Berry’ on 7-1-17, #353-12.
Well, I needed MORE plants so on July 1 I went back to Wagler’s. This time, most of the Echinacea PowWow® were in flower so I brought home a couple of ‘Wild Berry’. 🙂
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ on 7-9-17, #355-13.
I was very happy with the performance of the three Echinacea. They grew very well, tolerated the full sun on the south side of the house, and flowered very well. PanAmerican says they don’t need to be deadheaded unless you want to keep the plants more tidy looking.
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® Wild Berry’ on 7-9-17, #355-14.
Maybe I should mention a few things you would like to know about this cultivar. While the species Echinacea purpurea can grow to 2-3′ or even taller, the PowWow® series only grows to around 16-20″ tall. Hmmm… I am pretty sure I planted them in the wrong spot if that’s the case and I should have taken the plants in front and behind them more into consideration… Probably I should have put them on the front row instead of in the middle…
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® White’ on 7-19-17, #357-26.
Information states that Echinacea purpurea does well in full sun to light shade. They are drought tolerant once established and that is a very good thing on the south side of the house.
Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow® Wild Berry’ on 7-19-17, #357-27.
Dave’s Garden says that Echinacea purpurea is cold hardy in USDA Zones 2a-10b (-50-35 ° F) while the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder says 3-8. PanAmerican Seed says the PowWow® Series is hardy in zones 4a-10b. Well, if it gets any colder than that, I am leaving anyway.
Echinacea purpurea PowWow® ‘White’ and ‘Wild Berry’ on 7-30-17, #362-24.
Well, by the time the photo above was taken on July 30, 2017, I could definitely tell there was going to be an issue. The Colocasia spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ behind the Echinacea was going to grow to around 8 feet tall. The Marigold ‘Brocade’ was going nuts and trying to take over along the front row. In the other beds, the Marigold ‘Brocade’ did not get this HUGE so I didn’t think they would be that big of a deal. Well, they proved me wrong. Within a couple of weeks after I took the above photo, the Echinacea were covered up. I had other distractions and didn’t get the problem remedied when I should have and by the time I did the Echinacea wasn’t too happy.
The winter was much colder than it has been in the past few years, and although I did mulch, none of the Echinacea ‘PowWow” came up in the spring of 2018.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please leave a “Like” below if you have visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 Check out the links below for further reading. The links below are about the PowWow® Series but if you want information about the Echinacea purpurea, you can check out the links HERE.
The Belmont Rooster 