Bravado Purple Coneflower Seeds

Glorious rosy-pink blooms bobbing atop hardy native plants that bloom freely over a very long season—is there a simpler or more beautiful plant for the garden than this Coneflower? Unlike other echinaceas, 'Bravado' holds its extra-wide petals out flat, offering up even more color from late spring until the cold fall weather sets in. The blooms are 4 to 5 inches wide, their hue varying from light cotton-candy pink to deep magenta-tinged rose. And the cheery golden-brown cones, which bring in the butterflies and bees, are superb for drying and using in Everlasting arrangements.

These long-stemmed, bushy plants reach 4 feet tall and 1½ feet wide, holding their blooms overhead like gay umbrellas on very sturdy stems. Superb for a large planting anywhere, they show to particular advantage in the back of the border, drifting across a perennial bed, or in any naturalized woodland or meadow setting. Super-easy to start from seed, they bloom the first year and for many years thereafter, lasting through the worst heat and dry weather summer has to offer. The flowers are also superb in the vase—if you can tear them away from the butterflies, that is. A natural treasure, coneflower belongs in almost every garden with space for plenty of colorful, long-lasting blooms.