812-217-7207
reseednursery@gmail.comPerennial • $6, 4-inch pot
| Height | 2 to 4 ft |
| Spacing | 1.5 ft |
| Sun Exposure | Full Sun to Part Shade |
| Soil Moisture | Medium Wet to Medium Dry |
| Bloom Color | Purple |
| Bloom Time | June – Aug |
| Companion Plantings | Black Eyed Susan, False Sunflower, Virginia Mountain Mint |
| Special Attributes |    |
Echinacea purpurea
This iconic prairie wildflower is just as good for our cultivated spaces as it is for the wildlife that visit it. Growing straight on strong, sturdy stems, Purple Coneflower will grow in nearly any semi-dry to moist soil in full sun to partial shade. Bees and butterflies flock to these blooms, and it is a significant host plant as well, feeding the caterpillars of the Silvery Checkerspot, Sunflower Moth, Blackberry Looper, and a few others. It never gets old in late summer seeing an Eastern Goldfinch feeding on the seeds tucked away in the dried flower heads. If you are able to get a hold of any seeds, they have no dormancy requirement and can be dry-stored until spring and sown as soon as the soil temperatures warm. This plant will also easily reseed in nearby bare soil.
Aster-yellows can be a problem with Purple Coneflower, and can easily spread to other plants in the Asteraceae family. The most noticeable symptom is probably phyllody, which is an odd dysmorphism of the flowers into green, leaf-like petals. Unfortunately, affected plants need to be immediately and completed removed (including roots, if possible) and discarded directly into the trash (not composted), preferably in some sort of plastic bag; after waiting too long to remove, we have seen this disease spread to nearby plants, including Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).
Many herbalists and those who practice traditional medicine use Echinacea in teas and other supplements with purported benefits to the immune system, but this has not been scientifically verified. Coneflowers are heavily cultivated in the nursery trade, and while many are thankfully still beneficial to pollinators, we think the straight-species is best (as always).
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