Coneflower 'PowWow White'
Echinacea purpurea 'PowWow White'
A compact, first-year-flowering coneflower selection with creamy white petals around a golden-orange cone — a bright counterpoint to typical purple coneflowers.
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Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow White’ is a compact, seed-grown coneflower cultivar prized for its creamy white, slightly reflexed petals surrounding a golden-orange cone — a striking departure from the magenta-purple of the wild species. Bred by PanAmerican Seed, it shares the species’ tough, sun-loving nature while offering a shorter, more uniform habit better suited to smaller borders and containers.
A brighter take on a garden classic
Where typical purple coneflower forms loose 2–4 ft clumps, ‘PowWow White’ stays compact at 16–24 inches, with sturdy, well-branched stems that hold up to the wind and rain without staking. Its flowers open in late spring and continue for weeks, with occasional rebloom into fall — all while drawing native bees, butterflies, and skippers, and later feeding goldfinches on the ripened seed heads.
Care tips
Plant in full sun with fertile, well-drained soil for the strongest bloom, though it tolerates average or poor soils once established. Deadhead spent flowers to extend the bloom season, or leave some seed heads standing through fall and winter for the birds. Cut the dead stems back to 12–24 inches in late winter rather than to the ground — native bees often overwinter in the hollow stubble.
Fun Fact
'PowWow White' was bred by PanAmerican Seed to flower in its very first year from seed — a genuine breeding milestone, since older seed-grown Echinacea typically took two years to bloom. Its sister cultivar 'PowWow Wild Berry' won a 2010 All-America Selections award, but 'PowWow White' itself was not an AAS winner.
Habitat & form
Where it's from and what to expect.
- Native range
- Central and eastern North America (species); 'PowWow White' is a cultivated seed selection
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature size
- 18–30 in tall (2–3 ft at maturity per Missouri Botanical Garden) and 12–18 in wide — more compact than the straight purple species.
- Bloom
- Creamy white, slightly reflexed petals around a golden-yellow cone from late spring through fall, with occasional autumn rebloom.
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 3–9.
Care
How to keep it happy.
- Sunlight
- Full sun for the best flowering; tolerates part sun but blooms less freely.
- Water
- Medium water to establish; drought tolerant once rooted.
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil ideal, but adaptable to average or poor soils once established.
- Planting distance
- 12–16 in apart.
- Propagation
- Grows readily and flowers in its first year from seed (about 20 weeks after sowing); established clumps can also be divided in spring.
- Pruning
- Deadhead to prolong bloom, or leave some seed heads standing through fall and winter for goldfinches. Cut old stems back to 12–24 in in late winter.
- Pet safety
- Non-toxic