From Farm to Face, With Help From Sephora
A rare plant discovered 16 years ago has led to a line of skin-care products.
Echinacea Green Envy.
Photographer: Michael BloomThis article is for subscribers only.
It all began with a mutant flower. In 1999, Mark Veeder noticed a strange green bloom among the purple echinacea plants growing on his seven-acre spread in upstate New York. A Manhattan-based event planner—he’s created glitzy affairs for the Oscars and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week—he also is a lifelong amateur horticulturalist. “In the plant world, green flowers are very rare,” says Veeder, who maintains sprawling gardens at his country home.
He sent the flower to top horticultural labs for testing. The results showed he’d discovered a new variety of the standard Echinacea purpurea, or purple coneflower, containing a much higher concentration of echinacea’s vaunted immune-boosting and restorative properties.