Coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red'
Echinacea 'Balsomsed' (Sombrero Salsa Red) · Asteraceae
Single flowers of a deep, velvety red-orange on a compact, well-branched plant that flowers heavily all summer.
- Size
- 24 in tall, 22 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to early September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red'
The planner designed this bed around coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' × 3, red
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 11, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 5, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Foxglove beardtongue × 5, white
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only red.
Why here
- In the middle. At 24 in it is the step between winter heath (10 in) in front and foxglove beardtongue (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- A step in the back row. Next to brown-eyed Susan (4 ft) and foxglove beardtongue (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 11 weeks. From late June to early September.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Winter heath is the first into flower, in late January, and brown-eyed Susan the last to finish, in early October. Cool colours (pink, purple and blue) with red and yellow as the warm notes, and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' goes in a border
At 24 in it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The Sombrero series was bred for the things the early hybrids lacked: a sturdy crown, good branching and winter survival. This is the truest red among them.
- Red for a sunny border
- Containers
- Butterflies and hummingbirds
What to plant with coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue oat grass: in flower together for two weeks, from late June.
- Meadow sage 'Caradonna': in flower together for three weeks, from late June; spires rising out of its mound.
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam': in flower together for 11 weeks, from late June.
Questions about coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red'
Does coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' need sun or shade?
Coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 6 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 22 in (55 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 24 in (60 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red'?
Coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Gloriosa daisy: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 4 in taller.
- Coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; pink, not red.
- Tickseed 'Sunray': the same job in a bed; 4 in shorter, flowers early June to late August.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red'?
Coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Bottle gentian: from late August to early October, 20 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' look like in winter?
Coneflower 'Sombrero Salsa Red' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Echinacea
- Coneflower 'Cheyenne Spirit' Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit'
- Coneflower 'Green Jewel' Echinacea purpurea 'Green Jewel'
- Coneflower 'Hot Papaya' Echinacea 'Hot Papaya'
- Coneflower 'Kim's Knee High' Echinacea purpurea 'Kim's Knee High'
- Coneflower 'Magnus' Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'
- Coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' Echinacea purpurea 'PowWow Wild Berry'
- Coneflower 'White Swan' Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan'
- Pale purple coneflower Echinacea pallida
- Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea
- Tennessee coneflower Echinacea tennesseensis
- Yellow coneflower Echinacea paradoxa
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 24 in (60 cm) tall, 22 in (55 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to early September; daisies; red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.