'White Swan' boasts the same size, vigor, and large flowers as the more common pink forms, but in white. Plant them together, in good big clumps, for a sensational summer display.
Echinacea, a North American genus in the Daisy family, has big, bright flowers that appear in late June and keep coming into September. Plants thrive in average soils or hot, dry conditions, shrug off cold, and are equally at home in full sun or partial shade. Blooms last well as cut or dried flowers, and the large cone at the heart of the flower head turns black as the seeds mature, adding further interest and providing nourishment for goldfinches. Coneflower, E. purpurea, a rugged species that is native from Iowa and Ohio south to Louisiana and Georgia, is a great garden plant everywhere in between.
