Maintenance: If you want to tidy up your garden at the end of the season, cut your coneflower plants down to just above ground level. Hold onto your hooch, and check out this link to plan a counter-assault. These critters will make your flowers and leaves look like they'd been attacked by a shotgun-wielding hillbilly garden fairy. Pests & Diseases: Healthy coneflowers are usually resilient to pests and diseases, but drought-affected leaves open the door for Japanese beetles. Maturity Period: Echinacea plants grown from seed bloom in their second year of growth and thrive for 3 to 4 years. The flowers grow on long, sparsely-leaved stems. Long, narrow, sword-like basal leaves can be as long as 8", and the alternating leaves on the flower stems grow as long as 4". Hybridized varieties include bi-color petals.īloom Period: Coneflowers bloom mid-summer through early fall, and deadheading will encourage consistent and prolonged flowering.įoliage: Leaves are a medium to dark green. Ray colors may include dark or light purple, magenta, pink, yellow, or white. The central disks often take on a fiery orange appearance, "burning" from a brown or green base. The center of a coneflower can be the most colorful part of the plant. purpurea, the "dome." As with all daisy relatives, the center disk is a cluster of tiny flowers, and each petal "ray" is a flower on its own.Įach upright stem may branch out to hold several flowers. It doesn't handle soggy, poorly-drained soil.įlowers: Three-inch wide compound flowers resemble lazy daisies, and in most species, the petals droop downwards from the center disk-or, in the case of E. Soil Requirements: Coneflowers don't require rich soils, but a little compost worked into the planting area will help them grow best. Coneflowers won't be as spectacular in drought-prone areas, but it will hold its own in hot, dry soil if it gets a break from intense sunlight. Moisture Requirements: Consistent moisture helps the entire plant retain its vigor. In the hottest areas, afternoon shade will prevent the flowers from fading and the leaves from "scorching.” Sunlight Preferences: Echinacea grows well in partial shade or in full sun. USDA Hardiness Zones: Coneflowers are herbaceous perennials in zones 3 to 8. Even if there are no studies proving the medicinal benefits of echinacea honey (specifically) on human health, honey connoisseurs place echinacea honey high on their lists of flavor favorites. In fact, beekeepers love to set their hives near commercial echinacea fields because raw honey-which is scientifically proven to contain naturally antimicrobial properties-increases its market value when it can be labeled as echinacea honey. 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.When you think of echinacea, two things likely come to mind:
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