Coneflower (Echinacea 'Katie Saul' BIG SKY SUMMER SKY)
Stunning Echinacea 'Katie Saul' BIG SKY SUMMER SKY Coneflower offers peach-to-rose flowers, low maintenance, and drought tolerance for USDA Zones 3-8.
Scroll down to discover growing tips, care requirements, companion plants, and more
Complete Plant Information
Overview
The Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY Coneflower is a spectacular addition to any perennial border, renowned for its unique, large, bi-colored blooms. These flowers feature rays that shift from yellowish tips to salmon-peach and deep rose-pink, encircling a prominent dark orange center cone, often compared to the pastel hues of a summer evening sky. As an upright, columnar perennial, this Coneflower variety exhibits strong, sturdy stems, minimizing the need for staking while providing season-long color from June through August.
This adaptable cultivar thrives in average conditions, demonstrating remarkable tolerance for heat, humidity, drought, and challenging soils, making the Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY exceptionally easy to manage. Beyond aesthetics, this plant plays a vital role in supporting local ecosystems, attracting butterflies and other insect pollinators while offering seeds for winter birds if seed heads are left standing.
Gardeners appreciate the low maintenance required for this Coneflower. Its inherent toughness ensures it remains a focal point, but timely division every few years helps maintain vigor. Whether used as a specimen or massed for impact, Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY delivers reliable, vibrant performance across its appropriate hardiness range.
Fast Facts
- Plant Family: Asteraceae
- Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
- Hardiness Zones: USDA Zones 3-8
- Size at Maturity:
- Height: 2-3 ft
- Spread: 1.5-2 ft
- Bloom Time: June to August
- Bloom Description: Peach to rose-pink with dark orange center cone
- Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
- Water Needs: Dry to medium
- Maintenance Level: Low
How to Grow
Planting the Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY Coneflower is best done in average, well-drained soils. While it tolerates part shade, maximizing the vibrant color display requires full sun exposure. Ensure the location has good drainage, as this plant does not appreciate persistently wet feet, even though it handles medium moisture levels.
Care for this tough herbaceous perennial is remarkably simple. Once established, this Coneflower is highly drought-tolerant, requiring supplemental watering primarily during extended dry spells. Fertilization is generally unwarranted; rich soil can lead to floppier stems. Although spent flowers can be left for winter interest and bird seed, prompt removal of spent blooms encourages faster rebloom and maintains a tidier appearance throughout the summer.
Clumps benefit from division approximately every four years when they appear overcrowded, which helps rejuvenate the plant structure and flowering capacity. This adaptability to heat, humidity, and poor soil makes establishing a perennial display using Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY highly successful, even in challenging garden spots.
Landscape Uses
This robust Coneflower excels in mixed borders where its upright, columnar habit provides excellent vertical structure without overwhelming shorter plants. Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY is frequently used along border fronts or integrated into sunny perennial beds where its flower qualities can be fully appreciated. For significant visual impact, mass planting or grouping several plants together enhances the display of its unique peach and rose-pink hues.
Beyond traditional borders, the drought and clay tolerance of this Coneflower make it surprisingly effective in rock gardens or in areas with naturally poorer, drier soil conditions where other perennials might languish. Its sturdy structure keeps it relevant even when not in peak bloom, serving as a strong architectural accent throughout the season.
Standout Features
Flower Qualities
- Showy
- Good Cut
Noteworthy Characteristics
The genus Echinacea is native to eastern and central North America, known for flower cones resembling a hedgehog. The distinctive Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY is a hybrid from Itsaul Nurseries, growing upright to 2-3 feet tall on sturdy, non-staked stems. It is celebrated for large, sweetly-fragrant, bi-colored coneflowers (up to 5 inches wide) whose ray petals display a stunning blend of yellow, salmon-peach, and deep rose-pink around a dark orange center.
Tolerances
- Deer
- Drought
- Clay Soil
- Dry Soil
- Shallow-Rocky Soil
Potential Problems
Coneflowers, including the popular Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY, are generally resilient but can occasionally suffer from pests or diseases common to the Aster family. Aster yellows, a serious issue, is transmitted by leafhoppers and causes abnormal, stunted growth; there is no effective chemical cure, though removing infected plants helps prevent spread.
Gardeners should scout for fungal and bacterial leaf spots, which thrive in overly humid conditions or poor air circulation—ensure adequate spacing when planting. Occasionally, pests like root-knot nematodes, erythroid mites, or Japanese beetles may damage the foliage or roots. Good hygiene, such as removing old debris and practicing timely division, manages most common issues effectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zones is Coneflower suitable for?
Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY is reliably hardy in USDA Zones 3 through 8.
How large does Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY grow?
This variety typically matures to a height between 2 and 3 feet, with a spread ranging from 1.5 to 2 feet wide.
What sun exposure does Coneflower need?
For the best performance and strongest stems, this Coneflower prefers full sun, though it can tolerate partial shade.
When does Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY bloom?
This Coneflower produces its beautiful peach to rose-pink flowers, featuring a dark orange center cone, from June through August.
Conclusion
The Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY Coneflower offers tremendous value to the landscape due to its manageable size, stunning bi-color blooms, and exceptional tolerance for difficult conditions like drought and clay soil. Incorporating this sturdy perennial ensures reliable summer color and essential support for pollinators. Before planting, confirm that your site offers full sun to maximize the gorgeous coloration of this outstanding Coneflower.
Wildlife Benefits
The persistent dark orange cones of the Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY are a significant draw for wildlife, especially later in the season. Once the petals fade, the seed heads mature, attracting goldfinches and other seed-eating birds throughout the fall and opening winter months.
Furthermore, like most native Coneflowers, this hybrid attracts numerous butterflies and beneficial insect pollinators while it is in full bloom between June and August. Planting in groups or massing provides a larger, more visible nectar source, boosting local pollinator populations.
Propagation Tips
While seeds can be saved from the summer cones, growing Echinacea ‘Katie Saul’ BIG SKY SUMMER SKY true to type is typically achieved through division. As noted, clumps of this Coneflower should be divided every four years when they start to look overcrowded. Perform this division in early spring before new basal growth begins vigorously, or in early fall. Take care to separate the root mass, ensuring each new division has adequate roots attached, and replant immediately at the same soil depth.
