Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'
Common: purple coneflowerEchinacea purpurea 'Magnus' - 72 per flat
- Height: 2'-3'
- Spread: 12"-18"
- Spacing: 12"
- Hardiness Zone(s): 3-8
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Plant Details
Named by Klaus Jelitto of Jelitto Staudensamen (Perennial Seeds) in Germany, for Swedish nurseryman Magnus Nilsson, who carefully selected for ten years, looking for fine form, dark hue, and very horizontal petals. A tall, coarse plant with large, dark green leaves and a large, 3-4" flower with broad hot pink to purple petals that surround a brown/bronze cone. Plants are tough and heat and drought tolerant once established. Their roots have famous medicinal qualities, they make great, long lasting cut flowers and attract numerous butterflies and small birds.
Characteristics & Attributes
Exposure
- Full Sun
- Part Sun
Soil Moisture Needs
- Average
- Dry
Green Infrastructure
- Green Roof
Plug Type
- Horticultural Plug
For Animals
- Songbird-friendly
- Pollinator-friendly
- Deer Resistant
- Hummingbird-friendly
Attributes
- Salt Tolerance
- Drought Tolerant
- Edible
- Native to North America
- Cut Flower
- Clay Tolerance
Season of Interest (Flowering)
- Summer
- Late Summer
Propagation Type
- Seed cultivar
Care & Maintenance
Echinacea take a wide array of conditions from average dry soil to medium, well-drained soil in part shade to full sun. Plant flowers best in full sun. Low-maintenance and tolerates drought, humidity, heat, poor soil. Resistant to pest and disease but sometimes suspectible to aster yellows disease. To encourage longer bloom time, flower heads can be deadheaded but not necessary. Seedheads are a delightful source of food for birds. To propagate, divide clump in the spring every 4 years. Root cuttings are also successful. Propagation by seed does not usually come true to type.
Interesting Notes
The Perennial Plant Association's 1998 Perennial Plant of the Year™
'Magnus' was introduced by Jelitto Perennial Seeds in 1985.
Ranging from Texas to New York, Echinacea purpurea can be found in moist prairies, meadows and open woods. As popular as they are in the landscape, coneflower is uncommon in the wild. They prefer full sun in fertile well-drained soil but one of the best features of Echinacea is the way it is able to tolerate drought, clay, high heat and humidity, part sun, and poor soils.
The flowers of coneflower provide multiple seasons of interest from summer while it blooms to fall and winter where the great seedheads are upright and structural. Butterflies and bees love the nectar of the flowers and goldfinches can’t help but flock to the seeds during the fall. While trialing ‘Green Twister’, we found the plant began flowering reliably by the first season of growth and was disease and pest resistant. Full growth at 3 years would provide a lovely, long lasting show and colorful flowers great for cutting.