Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit

• Variety: Cheyenne Spirit
• Latin name: Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit, a seed-raised hybrid
• Type: Herbaceous perennial, short-lived
• Flower: Single daisies in cream, yellow, orange, scarlet, rosy-red, purple and white
• Height: 60cm (2ft)
• Spread: 45cm (18in)
• Flowering: July to September
• Position: Full sun, any well-drained soil
• Pruning: Leave the stems standing over winter, cut back in early spring
• RHS AGM: No
• Awards: Fleuroselect Gold Medal 2012, All-America Selections 2013
• Wildlife: Bees and butterflies work the flowers; finches take the winter seedheads
• Sold as: 2L pot-grown plants
• Plant outdoors: Year round; spring gives the strongest start
• Delivered: Year round. Collection from Castle Cary also available

A coneflower that refuses to repeat itself: every Cheyenne Spirit plant flowers in its own colour, from one breeding line.

Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit: A Different Colour on Every Plant

Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit is a seed-raised coneflower growing to about 60cm, carrying single daisies from July to September in cream, golden yellow, orange, scarlet, rosy-red, purple and white. Which colour? You won't know until it opens. Each plant settles on one shade and keeps it, so a group of five reads as a drift that nobody could have planned, because nobody did. That lucky-dip quality won it the Fleuroselect Gold Medal in 2012 and an All-America Selections award the year after.

Now the honest part. Coloured coneflowers are short-lived perennials in Britain, and the killer isn't cold; it's winter wet sitting on the crown. Give Cheyenne Spirit full sun, sharp drainage (work grit into clay), no rich feeding, and don't mulch over the crown in winter. Plant in spring so the roots are established before their first wet December, leave the stems standing until March, and it will occassionally give you three or four good years. Treat any more as a bonus.

The flowers are single and open, which matters: single coneflowers carry more scent and far more bee traffic than the doubles, and the doubles flop in rain anyway. Leave the last flush to set seed and the goldfinches will work the cones through winter.

Planting Companions

Cheyenne Spirit wants the sunny, free-draining company it grew up with. Verbena rigida weaves vivid purple through the warm tones at the same height, and the flat heads of Achillea Summer Pastels sit beautifully against the cones. For the front edge, something silver and scented: Hidcote or Munstead from our lavender collection enjoys exactly the same drainage and pulls in the same bees.

Why Ashridge?

We sell Cheyenne Spirit as 2L pot-grown plants, big enough to flower properly in their first summer. We're also straight with you: coloured coneflowers don't last forever in a wet garden, and we'd rather say so than lose you as a customer. Every plant is guaranteed, and Which? Gardening named us Best Plant Supplier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit come back every year?

Treat it as a short-lived perennial: three good years is a fair expectation in a free-draining British garden, fewer in wet clay. Spring planting, sharp drainage and leaving the stems up over winter all extend its life.

Will Cheyenne Spirit colours come true from seed?

No. Cheyenne Spirit is a segregated mix, so self-sown seedlings won't match their parents. If a particular scarlet or apricot plant delights you, enjoy it where it stands; you can't reproduce it from seed.

Can I grow Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit in a pot?

Yes. At 60cm it's compact enough for a large pot with very free-draining compost. Stand the pot somewhere it won't sit sodden through winter; wet compost, not frost, is what kills it.

Is Echinacea good for bees?

Very. Single, open-centred coneflowers like Cheyenne Spirit are among the best late-summer bee and butterfly plants, and the standing seedheads feed goldfinches in winter. Doubles look plush but offer pollinators far less.

What is the difference between Cheyenne Spirit and White Swan?

Cheyenne Spirit is a mixed-colour lucky dip; Echinacea White Swan is a named cultivar, uniformly white and dependable. Plant Cheyenne Spirit for surprise, White Swan for a colour scheme you control.

Should I deadhead Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit?

Deadheading isn't essential but prolongs flowering into September. Stop in early autumn and let the last heads stand: they hold structure in frost and feed the birds.