Sombrero Summer Solstice opens bright yellow petals that pale toward the base around a golden cone, which gives each flower a lit-from-within look. Echinacea 'Balsomsolst', sold as Sombrero Summer Solstice, grows 18 to 20 inches tall and 18 to 22 inches wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 4 through Zone 8.
Bloom runs from early summer into fall on compact, well-branched stems that stand without staking. Deadheading extends the display.
The size suits a container, a front-of-border planting, or a mass planting.
Leave the last seedheads standing at the end of the season for goldfinches. Coneflowers take drought, heat, humidity, and poor soil once established, and they want well-drained ground. Winter wet is the usual cause of failure, so avoid low spots that stay saturated. Deer generally leave them alone.