Purple Coneflower

After living in Kansas almost ten years, I learned to love the tallgrass prairie and its perennial wildflowers. Millions of buffalo once roamed these prairies, grazing on grasses and flowers almost tall as a man. One of these native prairie plants, the purple coneflower, has been successfully exported to North Carolina.

With the appearance of a large, magenta-pink daisy with an orange-red center, purple coneflowers are not really purple. They have long-stemmed blossoms and lance-shaped, dark green leaves. Long-lasting as cut flowers, the center cones look good in arrangements even when the petals fall off.

Beautiful yet resilient, the coneflower is easy to grow from seeds or root divisions. I started mine from seed saved from my original plants in Kansas. Being a prairie native, it is also drought resistant, making it ideal for low-maintenance flower gardens. Attractive to wildlife like butterflies and bees which feed on nectar from the daisy-like flowers, small birds also enjoy feasting on the mature seedheads.

Native Americans used the dried roots of coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, for medicinal purposes, and now echinacea has once again become a popular ingredient in over-the-counter cold and flu remedies.

Reaching three to five feet tall, coneflowers do well in sun to partial shade in well-drained soil. In the fall, the tops of these perennials will die down to the ground, while the root system persists through the winter. In the spring the plant grows a new top from it roots, and this is the best time to divide a clump of coneflowers.

Compared to some perennials, which flower for only a few weeks each year, coneflowers are hardy perennials which can bloom from May until frost. They are ideal as tall background plants in a perennial border next to a fence or hedge, in a butterfly garden, or as the center in an island bed surrounded by shorter plants. If you are planning a perennial border, space coneflowers 18 to 24 inches apart. They look nice with companions like black-eyed susan, coreopsis, Shasta daisies, salvias, butterfly bush, lantana, or purple fountain grass.

When deadheading the flowers, cut entire flower stems right back to the main growing part. Dried seedheads are also attractive left on the plant. Be patient: more flowers are produced the second and third years.
Periods of standing water on the soil are damaging to perennials both in summer and winter. In heavy soils, add liberal amounts of organic matter to ensure good internal soil drainage. If external drainage is poor, consider raised beds.

Maintain a good fertilizer program from spring to fall, heaviest during the flowering period. Use a formula high in Phosphorus or a Bloom Booster, every two weeks. Shorter varieties, as well as white and yellow coneflowers, are now available. Some of them are even more drought tolerant than the original prairie wildflower.