Ratibida columnifera 'Red Midget'

aka 🎩Mexican Hats, Columnar Prairie Coneflower, Long-headed Coneflower, and Prairie Coneflower

Unique, airy plants with long lasting, deep red flowers on wiry thin stems that move in the breeze.

Small, long lasting flowers have deep, saturated colors that catch the eye and attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The foliage is somewhat feathery, providing an interesting contrast to the variably tall flowers and stems. These low maintenance clumping perennials can handle poor soils and drought once established, and are excellent in hot, dry, difficult areas of the garden.

These members of the Asteraceae family are native to a a large swath of the Midwest region of North America, from Canada down to Mexico.

Ideal for: Butterfly Gardens, Children's Gardens, Cottage Gardens, Cutting Gardens, Drought Tolerant Gardens, Flower Meadows, Pollinator Gardens, the drier parts of Rain Gardens, and more.

🌿Design tip: with their light and airy aesthetic, plant them close together and combine them with Asters, Echinaceas, Solidago, and colorful native grasses for a beautiful - yet extremely low fuss garden - that supports nature.

🐝Helpful to Native Bees: According to the Xerxes Society, these plants are particularly helpful to native bees, with flowers containing rich nectar.

🦌Deer resistant: These plants have moderate to high deer resistance.

Full to partial sun - with best blooms in 6-8 hours of direct sunlight.

18-36"T, although most of that is the flowers, as the foliage stays in low clumps.

Zones 4a-9b, cold hardy down to -30F.

💚Plant Nerd: You know how so many plants prefer "rich, moist, well-draining soils"? These Ratibida plants, native to the Prairies would actually prefer your hot, dry, and honestly not-too-fertile soils. Plant them with Daddy Pete's Soil Enhancer for good drainage, give them ample water their first 12 months in your garden to get well established, but otherwise these sturdy plants are fine in the more difficult areas (or more difficult to access areas) of the garden. 

These plants have a history of medicinal usage by the Zuni peoples of New Mexico.