![]() ![]() When it goes to seed, small songbirds love to raid the central cones, and when it's in full flower, honeybees go nuts. Once in a while, a hummingbird might come to visit. You don't have to grow coneflower for any other purpose than to dress up your garden, but in addition to its beauty and its reputation as a medicinal herb, growing coneflower from seed attracts beneficial insects such as predatory wasps and butterflies. ![]() Ideal conditions enhance bloom displays and foliage vigor but left to its own devices, coneflowers can dress up neglected gardens or add color to xeriscapes. The echinacea genus is native to the eastern United States and like most wildflowers, it's a hardy and adaptable plant. And guess what? Don't let the botanical name Echinacea purpurea fool you purple isn't the only color in which coneflowers bloom. Friendly bugs love them, and we're pretty sure you will too. Whatever you think they look like, or whatever you choose to call them, coneflowers are fair game for your garden plant selection and an asset to your herbal medicine cabinet. If you ask us, echinacea flowers look more like colorful badminton shuttlecocks than cones.Įchinacea plants are sometimes called "hedge coneflowers," "American coneflowers" or when referring to the most popular color, "purple echinacea." These notorious nine are commonly referred to as coneflowers, named for the flower's domed centers and downward-pointing petals. Daisy-like purple flowers that look like they partied a bit too hard the night beforeĮchinacea, pronounced "eh-kin-asia," is the genus name for nine species in the Asteraceae family.That stuff your mom's always trying to get you to take to boost your immune system.pallida (pale purple coneflower) - purple, narrow, very downward flexing ray flowersĮ.When you think of echinacea, two things likely come to mind: paradoxa (yellow coneflower) - yellow flowersĮ. Most of these new cultivars are the result of seedling selection of purple coneflower or crossing between E. There have been multiple new introductions of purple coneflower in many different colors. Plants can get overcrowded and benefit from division every 4 to 6 years. Plants freely and easily re-seed throughout the garden and this can be reduced if you remove flowers after they fade and before they set seed. Goldfinches and other birds like the seed found in the dried black center part of the flower and spent flowers will stand through winter. Deadheading will promote more repeat blooms. Plants have a big flush of bloom in first part of summer with consistent bloom (but fewer) until first frost. Great flower for full sun, well drained soils. Insects & Disease Issues: Leaf spots, Japanese beetle and aster yellows (occasionally), Culture and Uses: Leaves: 4-8”, dark green, coarse, serrated, short stiff hairs, alternate, simpleįlowers: June-August, purple-pink, purple, white, 3-4” diameter, brown central cone with bronze tint, slightly drooping Great pollinator plant for butterlies and other insects seed heads attract goldfinches and other birds especially during winter.Easy to grow, native perennial flower for Iowa.
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