Add year round interest and beauty to your landscape with coneflowers.
The native purple coneflower is at home in formal, informal and natural plantings. You’ll enjoy the daisy-like flowers in summer and seed heads fall through winter; and so will the butterflies and birds. You’ll find a variety of butterflies visiting the flowers throughout summer and birds munching on the seeds in winter; adding welcome color and motion to the landscape.
And be sure to pick a few flowers for your summer bouquets and seed heads for dried flower arrangements. They combine nicely with other cut flowers and seed heads and pods from your garden.
Grow coneflowers in full sun with well-drained soil for best results. But don’t worry if that does not describe your garden. These adaptable plants will tolerate partial shade and a wide range of soils including clay, sandy and rocky conditions.
Combine coneflowers with other sun and drought loving plants. They look great with ornamental grasses, Russian sage, Walker’s Low catmint and other prairie natives like Liatris (blazing star), goldenrod and more.
No need to deadhead as these beauties will usually rebloom even when you don’t remove the faded flowers. They do produce an abundance of seed for the birds to enjoy and start new plants. You will have plenty of seedlings to use in other gardens or share with friends.
Divide overgrown plants as needed. This is best done in spring but as most gardeners know, we often divide when time allows. Just be sure to provide proper post-transplant care no matter when you dig and divide your perennials.
And if you have enough purple coneflowers or are looking for something different, consider one of the many new varieties available at Pasquesi. You’ll find new colors, double flowers, compact varieties and more.
At a Glance
Name: Purple Coneflower and cultivars
Size: 2 to 5’ tall and up to 2 feet wide
Light: Full sun to part sun
Water: Water thoroughly whenever top few inches of soil are crumbly and slightly moist, drought tolerant once established
Soil: Well-drained preferred
Written by, gardening expert, Melinda Myers. Each month Melinda will feature a low maintenance plant perfect for beginning and experienced gardeners looking for attractive easy care plants. Melinda Myers is a nationally recognized gardening expert with more than 30 years of horticulture experience. She is a wealth of knowledge and we are pleased to share Melinda’s Low Maintenance Plant of the Month with you!
