Rudbeckia and echinacea

This week it’s:

I LOVE these two bold, brassy border perennials of the daisy family. Known as coneflowers, they are not, however, universally liked, mainly because some consider the daisy flower and the yellow and deep-pink colours common! For me, though, they bring much-needed colour and warmth to a border during August and September – and later. They are easy to grow, flower freely over a long period and make good cut flowers – so what’s not to like?

■ The flowerheads of both plants are often likened to shuttlecocks; the middle of the flowers are at the front, with the petals splayed backwards. In botanical speak, ‘the central disc has a conical outline, surrounded by reflexed florets’.

Names to savour: fascinating floral origins

THE stories behind the genus names…