Echinacea

Who doesn’t love a daisy! I photographed these Echinacea’s in August 2019 at College Lake Nature Reserve in Pitstone, Buckinghamshire. A stunning display growing amongst all the other flowers for pollinators in the wildlife garden. College Lake is a flagship reserve of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, it has an information centre, education facilities, a café and a shop. 

Echinacea’s are a species of herbaceous flowering plants, commonly called Coneflowers. A firm favourite in cottage garden schemes their vibrant colours brighten up flower borders and attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Echinacea’s are tough perennials, they grow up to 4 feet and don’t need staking, they also make wonderful cut flowers.

I never dead-head the spent flowers of Echinacea, I always leave the seed heads for the birds to feast on in the Autumn. Watching Goldfinches snacking on the swinging stems is a very comical sight, another reason to leave the seedheads to the birds.