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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Coneflowers
Coneflowers, also known as echinacea, are one of America鈥檚 native wildflowers, beloved by butterflies, bees, and songbirds. Learn more about growing coneflower care鈥攆rom planting to pests to deadheading.
About Perennial Coneflowers
Echinacea are tough perennials in the daisy family (Asteraceae) and hardy in Zones 3 to 9. They are native to the eastern and central United States, blooming in mid-summer and continue to flower sporadically until frost.
The genus is named after the Greek word for hedgehog, echinos, because of its cone-like center, which attracts butterflies and bees. Leave the seed heads after bloom, and you鈥檒l also attract songbirds such as goldfinches!
Of course, this plant is good for humans, too, with many medicinal properties; today, it鈥檚 especially popular as an herbal tea to strengthen the immune system.
Do Coneflowers Spread?
This is not an aggressive plant, but it will naturally self-seed and spread, which you can encourage if you wait to cut back until late winter (or prohibit self-seeding if you deadhead the flowers right after they fade). Hybrids will not self-sow; most are sterile (they do not produce viable seeds). Hybrids aren鈥檛 of much interest to birds, either.
The Purple Coneflower
The purple coneflower (E. purpurea) is the most common and readily available. The flowers measure 2 to 4 inches in diameter and have a mounded, brown, central cone of disk flowers surrounded by long light purple rays that droop down the center cone. Up to nine naturally occurring echinacea can also be found in purple shades or yellow (E. paradoxa). They have dark green lower leaves 4 to 8 inches long.
Coneflowers are striking when planted in masses, especially as a mix of various colors. They are trouble-free once established in a traditional garden or wildflower meadow. They are commonly seen in perennial flower gardens.
Growing
- Coneflowers are drought tolerant, but new plants need water occasionally and more often if the spring season is especially dry.
- Native in-ground coneflowers seldom need fertilizer.
- To delay blooming for fall enjoyment (and compact growth), cut back stems 1 foot when plants come into bloom. For staggered bloom heights and times, cut only a few stems.
- Beneficial, wasplike soldier beetles may appear in August. They feed on insect eggs and larvae and pollinate plants. Do not harm them. Learn more about insects that help out around the garden.
- In late fall, lightly spread mulch in colder regions.
- Cut the stems back to soil level when they wither or after frost.
- Divide or transplant coneflowers in spring or fall.
Deadheading Coneflowers
Should you deadhead coneflowers? There are pros and cons. Deadheading right after a flower fades prolongs blooming and prevents reseeding. However, if you can wait until late winter, your birds鈥攅specially goldfinch 鈥 will enjoy those seedheads. Plus, coneflowers self-seed prolifically, so where you had only one, you鈥檒l have multiple places in the garden with lovely blooms that attract butterflies and bees.
How to deadhead coneflowers? After the flowers fade, cut back stems to a leaf near a new flower bud or a set of leaves. Use sharp, sterilized shears as coneflowers are too thick to snap back the spent flower head with your fingers.
Growing Coneflowers in Pots
We tend to grow coneflowers in the ground as perennial plants, but you can certainly grow them in pots if the containers are deep enough for the plant鈥檚 taproot.
- Use 2- or 3-gallon (or larger) pots with drainage holes. Spread crushed gravel in the bottom of the pots for drainage.
- Fill the pot halfway with the potting mix. Tamp down. Plant the root ball an inch below the rim of the container, spreading out the roots. Add soil slowly until it is even with the top of the root ball, tamping down lightly. Water deeply.
- Keep pots in partial shade for 2 to 3 days, then place in full morning sun and partial afternoon shade.
- Always water deeply at the soil level, and the soil is dry to the touch. Water on leaves can cause fungal disease.
- Fertilize every couple of weeks with a water-soluble 10-10-10 product.
- Deadhead just below the base of the flower for continued bloom.
- To overwinter, prune plants to soil level when plant growth slows in fall.
- Move to a cool (40潞 to 50潞F) area, with low to moderate indirect light.
- Check the soil every couple of weeks and water lightly when the top 3 inches are dry.
- When new growth appears in spring, move to a brighter, warmer (60潞 to 70潞F) area. Moving the plant helps to prepare it for living outdoors in the spring and summer.
- Do not water leaves from above, as this can encourage fungal disease on leaves. Instead, water at the soil level. Use an insecticidal soap or neem oil solution spray if you see any aphids or pests.
- Every 3 to 4 years, in spring, after new growth has started, divide and repot echinacea plants.
Types
These are native, unless noted 鈥
- 鈥楻obert Bloom鈥 (Echinacea purpurea): red-purple petals; prominent, dark orange centers
- 鈥楩inale White鈥 (E. purpurea): creamy-white petals; greenish-brown centers
- Narrow-leaf coneflower (E. augustifolia): similar to E. purpurea
- Pale purple coneflower (E. pallida); native to Ontario
- Sanguine purple coneflower (E. sanguinea): red-purple petals with streaks (sanguinea, Latin for 鈥渂lood鈥 refers to streaks in petals; native to southern states
- Smooth purple coneflower (E. laevigata): narrow, drooping, pale-pink petals; endangered
- Tennessee coneflower (E. tennesseensis): upturned mauve petals; greenish-pink centers
- Topeka purple coneflower (E. atrorubens): deep pink short petals; rare
- Wavy leaf coneflower (E. simulata): yellow pollen distinguishes it from E. pallida (white pollen)
- Yellow coneflower (E. paradoxa), aka Ozark coneflower: yellow petals
- 鈥楥濒别辞辫补迟谤补鈥 (E. hybrid): soft yellow petals; copper-green centers
Read about our favorite coneflower varieties here!
Catherine Boeckmann
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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.
We can’t make plants do what we want. If a plant likes and needs full sun, we need to give it full sun (see above). If we short change it, it will fail.
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?
Something about that name, aster yellows, is appealing but in fact it is no fun. Aster yellows is a chronic, systemic disease that affects over 300 species in 38 families of broad-leaf, herbaceous plants. There is no cure. Victim and vulnerable plants should be removed and not planted there … again. Plant instead herbaceous plants (e.g., geraniums and impatiens) and woody ornamentals, which are not susceptible to aster yellows.
For the record, members of the aster family (Asteraceae), such as asters, marigolds, Coreopsis, and purple coneflower are commonly affected by this disease.
Vegetable crops such as carrots and potatoes are also susceptible. Aster yellows occurs throughout North America. (With thanks to Wisconsin Master Gardeners)
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.
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
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
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?
I have a question. I鈥檝e had good luck with my coneflowers. But I just noticed today that my gardener (for lack of a better word) mowed down all my coneflower stems from last summer/fall. They had not started blooming yet but I am wondering if they will come back. I love them so much and it would be hard to replace all of them at one time. I鈥檓 hoping for good news!! Thanks!!
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.
