The cultivar 'Firebird' grows 30 to 36 inches tall and 18 inches wide on sturdy stems and features downward sloping bright scarlet red rays and large, mounded, dark orange-brown cones. Coneflowers bloom from late spring to late summer and the spent blooms make an attractive addition to the winter landscape as well as an excellent source of food for birds.

Once classified merely as a common native plant, coneflower has taken on rock-star status. The German Konrad Moench named the genus Echinacea after the Greek word echinos (hedgehog) in the late 1700, a reference to its prickly center. Native to the eastern and central United States, its many species prefer full sun, hold up well to drought and heat, and are magnets for butterflies. During the past 15 years plant experts, including Dr. Jim Ault of the Chicago Botanic Garden, have been busy creating new coneflowers in a multitude of colors and forms.