Product Field NotesCompanion Plants
Sombrero® Salsa Red Coneflower: Chili-Red Heat for Cool Lavender
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Sombrero® Salsa Red coneflower brings real heat to the garden: warm orange-red flowers, like a chili pepper with an orange cast, with overlapping, slightly drooping petals around an orange-brown cone. The flowers have a full, finished look and a light, sweet scent, and they are carried at varying heights on branched, upright stems about two feet tall.
Next to lavender, it is fire and ice in one bed.
Salsa Red at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Echinacea Sombrero® Salsa Red |
| Flowers | Warm orange-red, about 3 inches, orange-brown cone |
| Foliage | Dark green, lance-shaped |
| Size | 24 to 26 inches tall, 16 to 22 inches wide |
| Bloom | Starts late June, peaks mid-July, through summer |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 4 to 9 |
| Light | Full sun to light part shade |
| Wildlife | Excellent for pollinators; songbirds visit seed heads; deer resistant |
Hot and cool in the same bed
Warm red against cool purple is a high-energy pairing. Salsa Red is a little taller and narrower than some compact coneflowers, so it works well just behind a row of lavender, rising a few inches above the purple spikes. Repeat it every few feet along a long border for rhythm. Both plants like hot sun and well-drained soil, so they settle in happily together.
If the contrast feels too strong for your taste, put a silver plant or a white flower between them to cool things down. Sketch options in the Companion Plant Planner.
Growing tips
- Soil: average to lean, draining well in winter. Hybrid coneflowers can be short-lived in heavy or wet soil.
- Planting: by late summer, so roots establish before the ground freezes.
- Water: it handles dry spells with little extra water once established.
- Airflow: crowded plants in damp shade are more prone to leaf spot and powdery mildew, so give it sun and space.
- Heat: color is richest in moderate temperatures and can fade faster during extreme heat.
- Fall: avoid cutting it back hard; a full tuft of base leaves helps it overwinter.
Remove any plant with distorted, green flowers, a sign of aster yellows.
Cutting for bouquets
Salsa Red makes a colorful cut flower, and the blooms dry well. Cut stems when the petals are fully open but the cone is still firm. Late in the season, leave the last flowers to form seed heads; songbirds visit them into winter.
Format
Salsa Red is offered as a full 72-cell plug tray, suited to mass plantings, cutting gardens and growers. Tray orders can also start at the Wholesale Hub. See the product page for current availability.
Frequently asked questions
Is Salsa Red more red or orange?
Orange-red: think chili pepper red with an orange cast.
Does it have a scent?
Yes, a light, sweet scent you notice up close.
How long does it bloom?
From late June through summer, longer with deadheading.
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