Echinacea 'Ifecsscitr' SUNSEEKERS CITRUS coneflower
Echinacea
The SunSeekers series of Echinacea offers a wide palette of this remarkable perennial, with all varieties boasting vigorous health, dense growth, and abundant flowering in saturated colors that don’t fade. The first part of the series, identified by patent designations beginning with "Apecss-", features cultivars with simple flowers in rich, dark shades. In contrast, the newer group — with names starting "Ifecss-" — represents a completely fresh direction, with varieties whose magnificent, often semi-double or exceptionally large flowers look strikingly unique: more like gerberas crossed with dahlias than traditional echinaceas.
These plants are bred by Innoflora B.V. of the Netherlands. Their journey to fame began in 2018, when the first cultivar, SUNSEEKERS SALMON, won the prestigious gold medal from KVBC at the Dutch novelty fair Plantarium and took the coneflower world by storm. The credit goes to breeder Jelle van den Haak, who created six standout cultivars in the series. Yet, cultivars appearing after 2020 carry a distinct handwriting and signature – that of Glenn Spil, another accomplished breeder. These newer varieties also have inventive, flavourful names that sound so tasty (yet inedible), such as Pumpkin Pie, Mineola, Watermelon, or simply Citrus 😊. Imaginative, right? All of these cultivars bear the label Plants for Pollinators invented by the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society), thanks to their rich nectar that supports bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
Bright colour of SUNSEEKERS CITRUS coneflower looks like a cheerful display of spring daffodils. It is another hybrid coneflower from the Sunseekers series which, thanks to its name, made many of us smell its flowers in anticipation of citrus perfume. Wrong. The scent is sweet like honey, it’s the flower colours which recalls the ripest lemon from Sicily before they turn them to limoncello. The flower are single, large, and firm, and dominated by large and green central discs that provide plenty of nectar for butterflies, bumble bees as well as bees. Flowering begins early – in July and strong and reliably fed plants keep on flowering until September. Longevity of individual flowers is exceptional, too – almost 3 weeks.
Plants are compact but have exceptional vigour and dense habit. Stems are green and reach between 40 and 50 cm in height. Deadhead spent flowers regularly and feed the plants every two weeks during summer. Leaves are healthy, deep green, and broadly lanceolate. SUNSEEKERS CITRUS was introduced in 2023.
The plant is usually trouble-free and resistant, just be careful if slugs are present in your garden. Since coneflowers emerge quite late, often when slugs are already in their lethal strength, they could gobble up newly emerging foliage totally and thus destroy the plant before it even comes out.
Coneflower will tolerate almost any soil type but boggy. It loves full sun. It is suitable for mixed borders with perennials or can be used as a flowering feature among low shrubs and conifers and looks lovely when planted in a mass in a container on patios and balconies. Fully hardy to min -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
Last update 09-08-2024
