Echinacea tennesseensis

‘Rocky Top’

TENNESSEE CONEFLOWER

Echinacea tennesseensis ‘Rocky Top’
TENNESSEE CONEFLOWER

Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ is a refined and dainty Coneflower, very different to the usual.

A very different & dainty Coneflower

Because it has very fine rayed petals, and an altogether more slender and fine look.
Unusually the petals cup upwards around the cone, rather than reflexing back like most other Coneflowers.

Shadings in lovely tones of rose-purple

And the petals are shaded in lovely tones of rose-purple, instead of being a solid colour.

Striking copper-orange & black cones

While the central cones are copper-orange, deepening to black as they mature.
Making cups full of delightful colour blends.

Dainty refined cups of flowers

Though it has such different flowers, it is equally as hardy, water-wise and easy to grow as all the other more common coneflower cultivars and Echinacea purpurea types.

Profuse & longer blooming

The delightful Tennessee Coneflower bears a profusion of beautifully shaded blooms.
And for a much longer period than many other Coneflowers.

Early flowers that go on & on till winter

As it begins blooming earlier in spring, while most others do not commence until summer, and continues on through summer and autumn to finish with the rest.
So the blooms are excellent for both cutting and garden display for months on end.

Fine foliage prettily cut

And the foliage is finer and prettily cut, rather than being solid leaves.

Great cut flowers fresh or dried

Cut blooms are very useful fresh in a vase, where they last for ages.
Or dried for arrangements and pot-pourri.

Decorative cones for garden, vase & birds

While the wonderful central cones are bronze at first, then turn black as the seed matures.
And these are also very decorative when dried, either left in the garden dry, or cut for a vase.
Plus a great help to our feathered friends in the winter, when seed eating birds love to feast from seed heads you have helpfully left to over-winter on your plants.

Water-wise & dry hardy

Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ is an excellent water-wise choice for gardeners conscious of using minimal water.
And some gardeners claim it to be even more hardy than the rest of the Echinacea clan, as well as more choice.

Heat & humidity resistant

Once established, Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ can withstand periods of dry and heat well.
And thrive in average soil or hot, dry conditions, with a minimum of extra watering.
Because they are natives of Tennessee, they are also naturally adapted to coping with summer humidity, as well as heat.
They also enjoy full sun to light shade.

Robustly frost hardy

Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ are robustly frost hardy plants and can withstand temperatures down to -25°C.
(See “Growing” section below for details).

Rabbit & deer resistant plant

Rabbits and deer rarely trouble mature plants of Echinacea tenesseensis, and it is considered one of the most nibble-proof of all the Coneflowers.
Though the pesky beasts may nibble on fresh shoots in a hungry year, Echinacea is not generally one of their favourite foods.

Pollinator favourite – top of the pops in autumn

Echinacea tenesseensis blooms are beloved by a wide range of our useful pollinators – from honeybees to solitary native bees; from butterflies to moths; from honey-eater native birds to autumn seed eaters.
The prominent central cones are rich in pollen and nectar, and come at a useful time of year during the summer and autumn, when not so many other flowers are available.
Then if you do not cut all the blooms – the remaining decorative, long-lasting seed heads are a boon to seed eating birds in winter.

Quick from seed to flowers

Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ will flower in 11 to 15 weeks from seed sowing.
So blooms are possible in the first year from sowing the seed

Hardy & long-lived perennial

Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ makes a very pretty, but hardy, perennial clump.
75cm. Tall in flower and cone x 45cm. Wide neat clump of foliage.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY

Suitable for beginners & kids

Sow at any time of year in a punnet indoors – whenever suitable temperatures are available (20-24°C).
OR
Sow in the garden during late winter & spring or late summer & autumn.

Indoors for optimum germination & fast plants: First sow the seeds in a punnet on surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then pat the seeds gently to the surface of the mix to ensure good contact.
But only barely cover the seeds with sieved mix because light is needed for germination with these seeds.

Now thoroughly moisten the punnet by standing it in a shallow water bath.
And allowing the moisture to percolate to the surface of the mix from below.

Then stand the punnet in a warm, well-lit position (not in direct sunlight).
And continue to keep moist by misting with a spray water bottle.

Temperatures of 20-24°C approx. are ideal for rapid and optimum germination.

Germination may start in just 5 days and continue up to 20 days after sowing.
Echinacea will flower in 11 to 15 weeks from sowing – so flowers are possible in the first year grown from seed.

Then prick out the seedlings once they large enough to handle.
And transplant into pots to grow on for planting out into the garden.

Seed Count: 20 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count, and give a generous serve).

GROWING: Echinacea tenesseensis ‘Rocky Top’ 

– Height with flowers: Blooms over summer and autumn on strong, weatherproof stems to approx. 75cm. high.
– Width: Neat, tight, evergreen clump of prettily cut foliage to a diameter of 45cm. approx.
– Position: Echinacea are hardy growers in Full Sun, though they can also tolerate and perform well in some Partial Shade. As long as they are well drained and not in damp shade.

Easily pleased, unfussy plants

– Soil: Echinacea are considered very easy to please plants.
Because they will happily tolerate poor, rocky soil, sandy or dry soils, as well as normal, average garden soil.
So they perform better when they are not overfed or pampered with rich soil.
Unfussy Echinacea can also can tolerate clay soils as long as they do not remain wet and mucky.
Plus they are tolerant of alkaline, lime soils.
– Frost: Echinacea are very frost hardy, as they can tolerate hard frosts to below -20C.
– Humidity: Echinacea also tolerate summer humidity well.
– Water-wise: Echinacea are excellent water-wise perennials, because they have a low water need once established.

Garden assets

– Fragrance: Echinacea are magnificent and long lasting cut flowers, even though they have little to no scent.
– Growth: Echinacea make a neat, hardy, evergreen perennial clump.
– Bees & birds: Nectar rich cones provide much needed energy food over the warmer months for bees and butterflies. Then if you leave the decorative cones to dry, they will also provide seed for small birds into winter.

Easy, low care

– Care: Echinacea are very easy care, low maintenance plants.
They are rarely if ever troubled by pests or diseases.
The only possible maintenance work is to harvest the flower stems for flower vases, or to tidy off the spent flower stems at the end of autumn (though leave the cones to dry into winter if you wish to attract small seed eating birds to your garden).
– Deer & Rabbit resistant: Echinacea are fortunately not particularly attractive to either rabbits or deer, and Echinacea tenesseensis seems particularly unattractive to deer.
– Origin: Echinacea are native to the prairies of Eastern and Central North America, where they grow in a very wide range of conditions. This of course accounts for their hardiness and unfussy nature in the garden. No prizes for guessing Echinacea tenesseensis is native to Tenneseee.

And a pet Hedgehog

The botanical name for Echinacea comes from the Greek for prickly Hedgehog.
Of course this refers to the decorative cones. But don’t worry – the cones are not prickly and just irresistible to pat.

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