The Many Faces Of The Echinacea Coneflower

Echinacea

(pronounced Ek-i-nay-see-a)

(Cone Flower)

A prairie plant native to the United States, this long-admired perennial beauty has been adored and admired by gardeners worldwide for over two-hundred years. Often traditionally referred to as Purple Coneflower, Echinacea is now more commonly known simply as Coneflower.

Dedicated and advanced breeding has enhanced and improved upon the species so much so that many gardeners today have abandoned Purple in association to its name.

The drooping, daisy-like flower of the Echinacea offers gardeners a wide variety of bloom colors and flower forms to pick and choose. This amazing assortment available at market today gathers to form an intriguing pallet of hues; from subtle and soft, to vibrant and festive!

Cultivars are aptly named and truly inspired. ‘Firebird', ‘Flame Thrower', ‘Harvest Moon', ‘Hot Papaya', ‘Kim's Knee High', ‘Now Cheesier', and ‘Sunrise’ are not your Grandma’s Echinacea!

The Coneflower . . . is not just purple anymore!

Echinacea is a most versatile and hardy sun-loving plant, and will bloom all summer long and into the beginning of fall as well. Some gardeners extend their enjoyment by choosing to leave the Coneflower seed heads on the plant at the end of the season to provide winter interest in the landscape.

Dead-heading spent flowers will encourage additional flowers to be produced on the plant. I also tend to leave a few cones to mature on my Echinacea here and there, which doesn’t seem to hinder its non-stop flowering as the growing season progresses.

Long, sturdy stems support a prolific display of flowers which are very attractive to wildlife happening by. Insects like bees and butterflies love Echinacea, and visit to collect the essential nectar it provides. Songbirds rely on this lovely plant with its spiny cones as a food source for them well into the autumn and winter months.

You can expect beautiful blooms from June to October in most areas, and are nearly always one of the last plants to go into dormancy at the end of the growing season.

Echinacea flowers are excellent performers as cut flowers go, and they enjoy a long vase life once snipped from either single-stemmed or multi-branched plants.

Echinacea are not demanding, needy plants in the garden, and do not seem to be impacted or seriously bothered by insects or diseases. Beneficial insects like soldier beetles arrive in August and will do no harm to them.

Coneflowers grow very well in water-wise gardens designed to be maintenance-free and drought tolerant. Echinacea is a top plant choice by garden designers who especially covet this plant's ability to conserve water, particularly if they endorse the gardening method of Xeriscaping.

Historically the resulting tap-root of a mature Echinacea plant has been harvested in North America by its indigenous people for centuries as a major herb. A deep and fibrous root system develops once this perennial plant gets established in the landscape. Its network of root fibers helps to bind loose soils, which protects against erosion making Echinacea a valuable addition to a difficult and fragile planting area.

Although Coneflowers demand very little growing assistance from us, sometimes staking is needed to keep the tall-growing forms from breaking in windy areas. Smaller and more compact Coneflower varieties have been recently introduced, helping transport this pretty plant from the rear to the front of the flower border.

Luckily, Echinacea has a very short list of likes and dislikes.

Echinacea will happily grow and flourish in zones 3 – 10. They prefer full sun, and will tolerate a partially lit area as well. Neutral soil pH, say between 6 and 8 will benefit most varieties of Echinacea. Generally speaking, they will grow satisfactorily even in poor, clay filled soil. Coneflowers actually prefer very little by way of soil amendments, so fertilization is not required. Yeah . . . one less chore!

Weed control is an important and necessary chore when cultivating Echinacea, as they have a difficult time competing with weeds for the real estate in your garden!

Plants may be cut back by half in June; this will result in later-flowering, more compact growth.