Coneflowers, also known as Echinacea, are tough little native flowers that draw butterflies, bees, and birds to the garden! Here’s how to grow this American native—and important tips on plant care, from deadheading to cutting back in June.
Bright upright plants, coneflowers are a North American perennial in the Daisy family (Asteraceae). Specifically, the plant is native to the eastern United States, from Iowa and Ohio south to Louisiana and Georgia. They grow 2 to 4 feet in height with dark green foliage. They are fast growers and self-sow their seed profusely. These midsummer bloomers can flower from midsummer through fall frost!
Their genus name Echinacea comes from the Latin name for hedgehog, echinus, referring to the often prickly lower stem of the plant. Coneflowers have raised cone-like centers (hence, the name) which contain seeds that attract butterflies. Leave the seed heads after bloom and you’ll also attract songbirds!
Trouble-free, coneflowers are drought-tolerant, once established. They can take the heat! As native plants with prickly stems, they are more deer-resistant than most flowering plants.
The most common species available to gardeners is Echinacea purpurea, the purple coneflower. If purple doesn’t pair well with your garden’s color palette, don’t fret: coneflowers can be found in a range of bright or subdued colors.
Coneflowers are at home in a traditional garden or a wildflower meadow; they are striking in masses, especially as a mix of various colors.
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Coneflower color
Planted an orange coneflower this year. When planted, the original flowers were bright orange-red. The new flowers on the plant are a pale pinkish color. In addition, the plant seems to be short, 8 to 10 inches and the interior of the plant seems to be wilting. Are these factors due to not enough sun? The plant is not planted in full sun, but does get some morning and late afternoon sun.
Aster Yellows
My coneflowers are infected with Aster Yellows and will probably all need to be thrown out in the Fall. I don't want to use insecticides. How long before I can safely plant them again?
Coneflowers and Goldfinches
Just wanted to report that Goldfinches will spend a very long time on flower seed heads. We have Purple coneflowers planted outside our bedroom window at the Chesapeake Bay and in the fall I start my day by checking to see if there are any goldfinches eating outside my bedroom window. Great way to start the day.
Curvy stems on Coneflower
My echinacea now in their 3rd year are sprouting with twisted curvy stems. What could cause this? I have them in bright well drained location
Echinacea
We’re stumped. If the leaves are twisted, that’s often a sign of herbicide damage; have any chemicals gotten near these plants or drifted over?
Otherwise, distortion is usually due to Aster yellows but that’s usually later in the season and very noticable because of yellowed petals and leaves. Use an insecticide labeled for use on the aster leafhopper to prevent the disease. Your county cooperative extension can advise you as to the best one to use in your area and the correct timing of the application
coneflower transplant
Late last summer, I bought two stunning coneflowers and planted them. They did very well throughout the fall. This spring, I was rethinking their location and attempted to dig them up to move them, but found no evidence of the plants even though I dug in the exact spot where they were planted. I have many other coneflowers that survive through our Michigan winters so I was surprised to find nothing. Are some coneflowers not as hardy as others for our zone?
disappearing coneflowers
This seems to be an increasingly common problem, with an increasingly hard to find explanation. One reason that some echinacea thrive and others fail to thrive could be that one is native and the other, respectively, is a hybrid. Contact the source from which you got the plant and ask what he/she thinks…and if he/she will replace the plant.
When to plant echinacea?
I live in Arkansas. Wasn't sure when to plant them. Thank you for this fabulous information....
planting coneflowers
It’s best to plant Coneflowers (Echinacea) by seed. Seeds can be started outdoors in the spring or summer, up to 2 months before frost. Keep in mind that Echinacea started from seed can take 2 or more years to develop into a sizable plant.
Coneflower seeds
I have read that I could plant coneflower seeds in the fall and they will bloom in the spring. I’m finding differing opinions on this. I have the seeds and I’d love to put them in the ground can you please tell me if I can do this and how?
Coneflower Seeds
Yes, you should plant coneflower seeds in the fall, covering them with approximately ¼-inch of soil. Seedlings will emerge in the spring, though the plants may not bloom in the next season. They may need a summer to get established, then should bloom in the subsequent summer.
Coneflower
It is heading towards the end of July and all of my coneflowers appear to be dead should I cut them back
coneflowers
same question please!
Coneflowers
Please see the Care section, above, for information on deadheading coneflowers.
What's eating all the petals!?
As soon as one of my cone flowers blooms, the petals are gone the next day! What's happening and how can I protect those pretty purple booms? Thanks for your help.
Coneflowers
My coneflowers self-seed regularly and where I had only one, now there are multiple places in the flower bed with lovely blooms that attract butterflies and bees. In fact, I have taken the seed pods and spread the seeds around manually to encourage more plants. Love these flowers as they are hardy, long lasting, and very sturdy.
coneflower
what type of coneflowers do you have? I've been wanting to plant some in my garden but not sure which to plant, do all coneflowers attract bees and butterflies?
Color change from yellow to bright orange?
I’ve had an echinacea passed along from a friend for well over 5 years. It is happy and healthy. It had pale yellow, almost white blooms, and would not have been a new hybrid since who knows how long my friend had it before she gave me a start. This year the blooms start yellow and turn bright orange. Doesn’t sound like a hybrid going back to the old purple, what could be going on?
Planting in September
Can coneflowers still be planted this time of year and all the blooms are gone? My local nursery has coneflowers on sale for 50% off. I live in Columbus, Ohio.
Plant in fall??
Sure, try it! It’s still relatively early in season, and bargain plants can be a good way to increase your stock. Check them over closely; pick the healthiest looking. If for some reason they fail, be ready to accept that outcome.
Echinacea first year
I have a purple coneflower plant that i planted in the spring from seed in a container, however since spring there has yet to be any flowers just leaves growing and getting bigger. Is this normal? And what can I do to protect it during the winter? I live in Northern Alberta Canada so the winters here get very cold! Are there any tips or precautions I should take since it's the plants first winter?
Winter care
Keep covered with a frost cloth. Dead head the blooms and keep the plant nice an short. Put mulch around the mound of the stem and make sure you keep some kind of slow release fertilizer mixed in.
Echinacia First Year: Winter
Hi,
I live in Iowa. Our winters get a bit chilly -- hanging at -15F (-26C) for periods last winter. I cut the coneflowers to the ground in November. They are covered with snow for months, and they do fine the next year.
coneflowers
I had a pot full and cut the heads off but left the stems in the pot will they grow back or do I need the seeds. Not sure if these have bulbs or rhizomes.
purple coneflowers
This is not just normal as it is the rule. Thee purple coneflower seedlings do not bloom the first summer, the plants die back and go dormant in late summer. This first-year dormancy is important and when plants develop strong roots. Plants flower in summer of the second year, and every year after that.
How to encourage more blooms
How can I do to encourage more blooms than leaves on the Cornflower plant in a container? When pruning the leaves, should I prune the bigger more established leaves or the smaller ones?
Pruning
Try and keep the bigger leaves green. If they are yellowing or turning brown cut them off. In order to coax blooms fertilize and leave in the sun for at least 5 hours a day.
Growth at center of coneflower
My cone flowers have green stalks growing up out of the middle of the bloom. The bloom still has purple pedals, with six or so green stems growing out of the middle of the seed cone, with more blooms. They look very strange.
why deformed flowers?
Well, what ever is the cause, it’s not good. The plant is either infested or infected by leafhoppers and/or eriophid mites. The leafhoppers carry a disease in their saliva that causes the plant to fail in a variety of ways. The mite feeds on coneflower. These bugs lay eggs in the grass and hatch to tunnel up the stems of the flowers. You need to discard the plants and keep the lawn trimmed.
Coneflowers
I live in North Texas. I planted some coneflowers I got at a nursery. During the day, they look wilted but the next morning, they have perked up. I thought they liked heat and sun. Is it because this is their first summer in the ground?
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