Alan's Pride Echinacea is a remarkable green-flowered cultivar that breaks the mold for what coneflowers can be. Bred by Dutch horticulturist Alan Sparks and awarded the prestigious Fleuroselect Novelty Award, this variety produces distinctive sour-apple green blooms on compact plants reaching just 24 to 36 inches tall. What makes it truly exceptional is its ability to flower in the first year from seed, rewarding patient gardeners with color that same season. Hardy in zones 3 through 8 and thriving in full sun, it transforms perennial borders, containers, and cutting gardens with its unusual, cheerful presence.
Full Sun
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3-8
36in H x 18in W
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Moderate
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This echinacea earned international recognition for good reason: it delivers genuine novelty without sacrificing vigor or pollinator appeal. The sour-apple green flowers are arresting and unexpected in a genus famous for purple and pink, arriving quickly enough that first-year bloomers are within reach for indoor seed starters. Reaching just over 2 feet tall, it stays proportionate even in smaller spaces, yet draws pollinators and fills vases with stems cut for arrangement. Few garden flowers this easy to grow also feel this genuinely special.
Alan's Pride shines in perennial borders where its moderate height and unusual color create focal points without overwhelming neighboring plants. Container gardeners appreciate its compact, manageable size, while florists and home gardeners value it for cutting and arrangement work. Its intense pollinator magnetism makes it a functional choice for gardens designed to support bees and butterflies, adding ornamental appeal while serving ecological purpose.
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Start seeds indoors 10 to 12 weeks before your average last frost date. Maintain soil temperature at 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal germination. This timing allows plants to mature sufficiently to potentially bloom in their first year.
Transplant seedlings outdoors after the danger of frost has passed and they have been hardened off by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions. Space plants 12 inches apart to accommodate their mature width.
Sow seeds directly outside 2 to 4 weeks before your average last frost date, or in fall for spring germination. Press seeds gently into prepared soil, as light exposure aids germination.
Deadhead spent flowers regularly to encourage continued blooming throughout the season. In late fall or early spring, cut back any remaining stems to ground level to tidy the plant and make room for new growth.
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“Alan's Pride emerges from the work of Alan Sparks, a Dutch plant breeder who created this cultivar to challenge conventional thinking about echinacea color and performance. The variety's first-year blooming habit and distinctive green flower color earned it the Fleuroselect Novelty Award, one of Europe's most prestigious recognitions for new ornamental plants. That honor speaks to how genuinely different this plant was when introduced, representing both a technical breeding achievement and a fresh aesthetic vision for the coneflower.”