Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Mac and Cheese, Mac 'n' Cheese, Mac 'n Cheese

Group/Class:  Prairie Stars Collection

Brand:  Terra Nova

Description:

Giant daisy-like flowers are a vibrant golden-yellow with chartreuse center cone; fragrant blooms make long-lasting cutflowers, attracts pollinators and feeds the birds at winter; use in naturalized areas

Ornamental Features

Prairie Stars™ Mac n' Cheese Coneflower has masses of beautiful lightly-scented gold daisy flowers with yellow overtones and chartreuse eyes at the ends of the stems from mid summer to mid fall, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Prairie Stars™ Mac n' Cheese Coneflower is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Prairie Stars™ Mac n' Cheese Coneflower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Prairie Stars™ Mac n' Cheese Coneflower will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity extending to 3 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and should do just fine under typical garden conditions. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Prairie Stars™ Mac n' Cheese Coneflower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.