Echinacea purpurea Prairie Splendor Deep Rose, commonly known as Coneflower, is a superior garden performer known to have the longest blooming season of all the Echinacea varieties. Prairie Splendor, an herbaceous perennial, will begin to set flowers as soon as early spring and pump out the blooms all the way until it is taken by the first frost of fall. A 2007 Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner (Europe's top floral prize), for good reason! This garden workhorse produces well formed, compact shrubs that average 24" inches tall and are equally happy being field grown or in container gardens. The deep rose, daisy-shaped flower blossoms grow 4" to 6" inches and have a raise dusky orange center eye. Echinacea is a popular cut flower used fresh and dried, as well as widely grown for its herbal and native medicinal healing properties. Both the flowers and the leaves are edible. Winter hardy to zone 3 and first year flowering, this variety is quite adaptable to all regional growing conditions. An excellent bridge plant, it is ideal for blending a manicured garden area into a native landscape, creating color swaths in open meadows and as border plantings that transition to open fields. For true nature lovers, do not dispose of the dead flower stems in winter. If you leave them to remain erect well into the cold season, the blackened cones may be visited by goldfinches and other hungry birds that feed on the seeds. An excellent variety for nursery stock growers as a potted perennial offering. Packet: 25 seeds.