‘Cleopatra’ Echinacea is named for pretty yellow butterfly that’s native to the Mediterranean. This lovely perennial starts blooming in early June and those flowers keep coming throughout summer into fall.
‘Cleopatra’ grows 16 to 18 inches tall with bright-yellow flowers that turn buttery yellow as they age. Over the years I’ve tried many hybrid coneflowers. Some of them put on an impressive show during that first summer, but then they run head first into a Wisconsin winter and either die off or are never quite the same again. I purchased a ‘Cleopatra’ plant last May and was tickled when it reemerged this spring and proceeded to bloom steadily for 4 months.
This plant’s soft color allows it to blend nicely in a mixed border. My plant is growing alongside Shasta Daisy ‘Brightside’, Veronica ‘Darwin’s Blue’, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Asiatic Lily ‘Orange Cocotte’.
The Japanese Beetles were pretty rough on ‘Cleopatra’ in mid-summer, but because this plant has such a long blooming season it eventually outlasted them.
‘Cleopatra’ is hardy in Zones 5-9 (and some growers insist it’s hardy to Zone 4).