Echinacea Purpurea Alba

• Variety: Purpurea Alba
• Latin name: Echinacea purpurea 'Alba'
• Type: Herbaceous perennial
• Flower: White, gently drooping rays around a green-gold cone
• Height: 1m (3ft)
• Spread: 45cm (18in)
• Flowering: July to September
• Position: Full sun, any soil with decent drainage, happy on chalk
• Pruning: Cut the old stems down in spring, not autumn
• RHS AGM: No
• Wildlife: On the same bee and butterfly beat as all single coneflowers
• Sold as: 2L pot-grown plants
• Plant outdoors: Year round
• Delivered: Year round. Collection from Castle Cary also available

The tall white form of the purple coneflower: a metre of cool, late-summer light for the middle of the border.

Echinacea Purpurea Alba: The Tall White Coneflower

Echinacea Purpurea Alba is a white form of the purple coneflower, reaching about a metre, with softly drooping white rays around a cone that opens greenish-gold and ages to copper from July to September. Because this is straight Echinacea purpurea rather than a coloured hybrid, it's the dependable end of the genus: the species that shrugs off British winters the fancy ones sulk through, given sun and drainage.

A word on the name, because honesty sells better than Latin. 'Alba' isn't a tightly defined cultivar; it's the gardener's name for the white purpurea type, so plants vary a little in height and poise. If you want a compact, perfectly uniform white, that's Echinacea White Swan, which stops around knee height. Alba is the taller, looser, more naturalistic sister, and in a prairie-style planting that looseness is precisely the point.

Grow it hard. Poor-to-average soil, no feeding, and leave the stems standing through winter: the seedheads hold their shape in frost and goldfinches strip them through the cold months. In evening light the white flowers glow long after the rest of the border has gone grey.

Planting Companions

White coneflowers earn their keep among grasses: Stipa or Panicum from our ornamental grasses give the classic prairie backdrop that makes the white rays float. In front, the deep violet spikes of Salvia Caradonna are the sharpest contrast you can buy, and Purpletop Vervain threads through at eye level without blocking the view.

Why buy from Ashridge?

Our 2L plants go out with roots that fill the pot, ready to establish before their first winter. We grow peat-free, we use biological pest controls rather than sprays, and our Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award comes from customer reviews, not a judging panel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Echinacea Alba and White Swan?

Alba is taller, to about 1m, and looser in habit; White Swan is compact, around 60cm, and completely uniform. Choose Alba for naturalistic drifts and the back of a white border, White Swan for pots and tidy edges.

Does white Echinacea come back every year?

Straight Echinacea purpurea types like Alba are the longest-lived coneflowers in British gardens, returning for years in a sunny, drained spot. It's the coloured hybrids, not the whites, that tend to be short-lived here.

When should I cut back Echinacea?

In spring, once new growth shows at the base. Cutting in autumn exposes the crown to winter wet, which is the one thing coneflowers genuinely hate, and you'd lose the winter seedheads too.

Do deer or rabbits eat Echinacea?

Rarely. The rough leaves and spiny cones are generally left alone, which makes coneflowers a sensible choice for rural gardens, though no plant is truly deer-proof when winters bite.

Is this the herbal echinacea?

Same genus, same species even; the supplements are made mainly from Echinacea purpurea. Ours is an ornamental selection grown for the garden, so admire it rather than harvest it.

Can I collect my Echinacea plants from your nursery?

Yes. Choose collection from Castle Cary at checkout and pick your plants up from us in Somerset, with no delivery charge.