Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Group/Class:  Prima Collection

Brand:  Terra Nova

Description:

A beautiful dwarf variety featuring a short, clumping habit; flowers emerge a soft orange then transition to shades of pink; an excellent selection for containers, borders or fresh-cut flower arrangements; long blooming season, from June to October

Ornamental Features

Prima™ Ruby Coneflower has masses of beautiful lightly-scented ruby-red daisy flowers with brown eyes at the ends of the stems from early summer to early fall, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its pointy leaves remain dark green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Prima™ Ruby Coneflower is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting birds and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Prima™ Ruby Coneflower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Prima™ Ruby Coneflower will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 16 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 15 inches. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and should do just fine under typical garden conditions. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Prima™ Ruby Coneflower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.