If I could only choose one flower to grow, it might be coneflowers (Echinacea). Or maybe iris and coneflowers. Or maybe iris, coneflowers and black-eyed Susan. But definitely, coneflowers are in my top five favorites, for sure.

I have Echinacea purpurea, the purple coneflower native to eastern North America; Echinacea pallida, pale purple coneflower native to the center region of the U.S., and some really spectacular cultivars including “Powwow Wild Berry”, “Cheyenne Spirit” and “Green Jewel”.

Some of my friends and colleagues discourage planting cultivars of natives (nativars), but I can’t bring myself to be that purist. I try to stay away from the cultivars that look like pom-poms, thinking that maybe the fancy blooms may not be as attractive to pollinators. The full one in the photo was my Wonderful Husband’s choice! On the plain native coneflowers and my simple cultivars, there are always Eastern Swallowtail butterflies and more bumblebees than I can count.

Plant Care

Yes, they are beautiful, but these are tough plants! In my gardens, they will grow in part shade to full sun, although they don’t have as many blooms if they get too much shade. Of course make sure to fertilize.

For the most part, these plants are absolutely care-free – I don’t even water them after the first year. During the early part of their flowering season, l try to dead-head the spent blooms to encourage re-blooming. In late summer and autumn, I let them set seeds so the goldfinch can snack on them during the winter.

When mine are really blooming their “fool heads off”, to quote Mammaw, I’ll cut a few for a bouquet to enjoy inside.

Reseeding

There’s been some on-line discussion that the new cultivars don’t re-seed as readily, so you have to sow more seed or buy more plants to replace those that have died – coneflowers don’t live forever, after all. Truthfully, I don’t mind if I have to go buy more plants! So far, the Cheyenne Spirits have done really well, the plants have grown larger and have more blooms than they did last year when I planted them.

There’s something so rewarding about those gorgeous blooms, just glowing in the evening sunlight, swaying in the light breeze. I watch the butterflies dance around them and know that my efforts have brought beauty to my soul, nectar to the butterflies and seeds for the goldfinch. How can life get much better than that?