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Ratibida columnifera f. pulcherrima |
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| Common name |
showy grey-head prairie coneflower |
| Family |
asteraceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z3-8) |
| Flowers |
yellow (summer into fall) |
| Size |
2-3' |
| Light |
sun |
From seed  |
Flowers first year from seed sown indoors early.
detailed seed-starting info below
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| Seed ripens | late September |
US native with pinnately divided leaves. The plain species has yellow petals (with the same narrow greenish-gray cone) - but one batch I grew developed much more dramatic burgundy/yellow bicolor flowers. This form of the species appears to be known as pulcherrima (very pretty one, in Latin), and I agree it's a showstopper when in full bloom. The hoverflies quite like it, too! Plants bloom throughout the summer - in 2007, ours started in mid-June, and were still in full bloom in late September.
It came to my garden in the guise of a different species, R. pinnata, but that one is taller, with a darker coloration to the cone (see comment below). I'm glad to have it, but unfortunately, it's not long-lasted in our garden, and doesn't reliably self-seed. So I periodically re-establish it from seed.
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This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away... One or more images of this plant are included in my stock photo catalog About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Ratibida columnifera f. pulcherrima
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Janet Davis | Oct 11, 2010 | Hi Rob: This plant is R. columnifera, Mexican hat, rarely over 3 feet, with bluish-grey, grass-like leaves. R. pinnata is much taller, to 5-6 feet with much larger, green, pinnate leaves and yellow ray flowers (no red on the petals) but with the same prominently raised disk flowers, only dark brown-black in color instead of greenish gray. It's also a hardier plant. Janet Davis, Toronto - www.beautifulbotany.com.
Thanks! I've finally gotten around to updating my page accordingly |
| steve shull | Nov 06, 2011 | Winter appearance, please describe.
Spring regrowth-I assume it comes back from the crown area. I had a hard time finding it in a public garden this Spring in N. E. Ohio. Any idea when Spring regrowth is likely, or ambient temperature range that regrowth occurs?
Dies back in winter. If I recall, regrowth occurs from right around the base of last year's stem, and should be apparent by sometime in April, although in my experience winter survival is sketchy at best. Not sure if that's due to our zone 6 winters, or just because they are inherently short-lived. |
- Seed from '06 trade. Baggy 35F (24d; 16%G, 24d) - 70F (20%G, 2-4d)
- Seed from '07 garden. Baggy 35F (16d; 30%G, 16d) - 70F (65%G, 1-2d)
- Seed from '08 garden. Baggy 35F (2w; some signs of G) - 70F (60%G, 1-5d)
- Same seed as above. Baggy 35F (2w) - 70F (33%G, 3-6d)
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