Add this Native North American Plant to Your Garden!
You may be surprised to learn that our favorite native plant, coneflower (Echinacea), comes in many colors, shapes, and sizes. Here are seven varieties of this rugged pollinator magnet that we have planted over the years with success.
I have been feeling under the weather lately, and echinacea seems to be the only thing that seems to quiet my cough. This got me thinking about how much I love these coneflowers! I have always appreciated the plant for its durability. It is able to withstand hot, dry summers and is hardy enough to survive the coldest winters.
A native North American plant indigenous to the central plains, Echinacea purpurea is virtually indestructible. We enjoy the color it brings to the summer garden with its large, daisy-like, rosy purple petals surrounding a copper-colored, dome-shaped central seed head. There is also a yellow one called Echinacea paradoxa because of its unusual color.
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Depending on your climate, be aware that hybrid coneflowers may not last as long in the garden as the original, E. purpurea, which is proven to stand the test of time!
7 Coneflower Varieties
Plant breeders have been busy! We have more colors, shapes, and sizes to choose from. Here are seven varieties that I have planted in my garden.
- ‘Sunrise’ has pale yellow flowers with central cones that start out green and change to gold. Bright and showy, the flowers are 5” across and very fragrant. The plants are 30-36 inches tall.
- ‘Harvest moon’ is a cross of E. purpurea and paradoxa that has golden-yellow flowers with orange cones. It is a heavy branching plant that bears 4” wide flowers.
- ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is a mix of colors that can be easily grown from seed. They grow to be 18 to 30 inches tall.
- ‘Green Envy’ has fat jade green petals with magenta veins. The center cones start out green and mature to a purple-brown. It grows to be 30 to 36 inches tall.
- ‘Razzmatazz’ is considered to be the first double-flowering echinacea. Instead of a central cone, each flower has a dome covered with short petals surrounded by a skirt of longer, reflexed petals. It is a bright pink and grows 32 to 26 inches tall.
- ‘Doubledecker’ looks like it is wearing a hat. Imagine a purple coneflower with a second set of smaller petals growing from the top of the cone. Plants grow to about 40 inches tall.
- ‘Kim’s Knee High’ is a compact-growing coneflower bearing rosy-pink flowers on an 18-inch-tall plant.
All these hybrids need the same care as regular coneflowers. They prefer full sun or morning sun and afternoon shade. Nutrient-rich, well-drained soil is optimum, but they will thrive in average soil, too. The flowers are great for cutting, lasting a week or more in a bouquet.
There are many, many more to choose from, so when plant shopping this spring, take a second look at coneflowers and add something new to your summer landscape.
See the Almanac’s Coneflower Growing Guide for more information about when and how to plant these American natives!
Robin Sweetser
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I was initially so dismayed after planting my echinacea and the colors began to completely change. Little did I realize that the soil acidity would greatly affect the outcome of the flowers.
What in the world is eating my echinacea? I have three beautifully colored plants - each of the past three years I get plenty of buds and as soon as they look like they might start growing petals something is interfering. If there are petals, they get eaten off leaving one or two sad looking flowers. I don't see what might be eating them but have a 3' fence around them that doesn't help much at all. Please help!
I have had a similar problem, determined to be caused by slugs/snails.
If the whole flowerhead is disappearing I would blame critters like deer or woodchucks. If only the petals are affected then it might be squirrels but probably is an insect. Japanese beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, or a microscopic mite that lives in the flower bud could all be the culprit. If you suspect the mites then it is a good idea to remove the plants and start fresh.
DISSAPEARING PLANTS
Submitted by Denise T on April 3, 2021 - 5:28pm
I'm stumped. Over the course of two years I planted 7 or 8 various echinacea plants in various locations. They grew, flourished and even self seeded for a year or two and then, for no apparent reason, two years ago not a single plant came up. A few of these were pretty healthy, large specimens. The care they received was always consistent and I never use herbicides or insecticides near them. Have UFO's invaded my garden and carried them away?
Woodchucks; Racoons; Skunks; Birds; O'Possums might be eating them;
Maybe but more likely soil is an issue. These prairie natives like soil on the dry side so if they had to stand in wet soil for any length of time - over the winter perhaps - that would certainly do them in. If you had a wetter than normal winter or early spring that could be the culprit otherwise check to see if the roots were damaged in another way - heaving out of frozen soil and breaking, chewed by voles or other critters, unable to penetrate hardpacked clay soil, or rotting due to disease.
I live in Georgetown, CO., elevation 8,500ft. Will they grow here?
Check out this website-
https://www.petalrepublic.com/native-colorado-flowers/
Can you successfully grow native echinaceas? If so then some of these may work for you. I have to say that the hybrids I have planted have not been as hardy as good old purpurea.
