I have seen a lot of gardeners saying the new colors and hybrids just don’t perform like the old-fashioned natives. Diseases and pests: One problem worth noting in Echinacea is “aster yellows,” a virus-like disease caused by a phytoplasma. I decided to experiment this year by leaving a lot of seed heads going into August. Pruning: Though deadheading is a common garden practice to encourage repeat blooming, many varieties these days are flower machines and will keep producing without snipping off spent blooms. More about the newsletter. The Spruce uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Watering: Tolerant of drought, but does best in average, dry to medium moisture. This perennial can survive in a wide variety of soils including poor quality soil. Types: While the purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, is most familiar to gardeners, there are other varieties including E. paradoxa, E. pallida, and E. tennesseensis. Love perennials? Add color and height to a mixed container planting. Do they attract bees and butterflies? Other pollinators, such as honeybees and hummingbirds will visit Echinacea too. RELATED: Where to plant: Echinacea should be planted in an area that receives 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day, as too much shade can result in floppy stems and foliage susceptible to powdery mildew. Purple coneflowers still come in purple, and they will always be recommended. Part of the Meadowbright series bred by Jim Ault. Blooms started in April on my two-year-old plants and were stunning with the quantity of blooms produced. There’s no cure, so once you notice a plant is infected, dig it up immediately and throw it away. If spent flowers are left intact, they will reseed with little effort on your part. They are distinguished from other coneflower varieties by their thin, drooping pale purple or white petals. According to Plant Delights Nursery, a chance seedling of ‘Magnus’ popped up in the growing fields of Dutch breeder Jan van Winsen in 1997. Drooping coneflowers are known for their long-lasting blooms, often blooming from the early spring through to the late summer. Top Perennial Plants for a Butterfly Garden The result is our native coneflower species have simply gotten better, we have more colors, flowers and habits — and you simply have to include some in your garden. Space your Color Coded echinacea plants 16 to 20-inches apart in an informal drift or sweep. Learn about purple coneflower and other vibrant, Sign up for weekly gardening inspiration and design tips. Exposure: Varies by species and zone, but typically thrive in full sun. Another white coneflower is ‘Fragrant Angel’. They are native to North America, and commonly found throughout the prairies and pinelands of southern Canada and the central United States. Imagine, however, enjoying coneflower blooms … Water regularly, but let soil dry out in between. These are the ones that are still producing roots, have green leaves and will get happy in your garden. Somewhat shorter than the pink versions with a honey fragrance and reflexed white petals. To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. The Garden Guy loves native flowers of just about everything, especially when it comes to pollinators. The rich yellow flowers fade to creamy yellow as they age. At The Garden Guy’s house, 2020 was amazing with the Color Coded coneflowers. var theDate=new Date() Your partnership opportunities with these new coneflowers is unlimited. * Required | We will never sell or distribute your email to any other parties or organizations. Height/Spread: 1-1/2 to 2 feet tall, 1 to 1-1/2 feet wide, Color: Light green rays with dark green cone. Add compost to the top 2-4 inches of soil. They make great additions to garden beds and borders, naturalized areas, prairies, and wildflower gardens. I was ecstatic to have American Goldfinches come in to eat the seeds on these as well as the other varieties I was trialing. It is a wonderful complicated science when it comes to breeding. Moisten the medium and then lightly press the drooping coneflower seeds into the soil but do not cover. A circlet of short pink petals is topped with a puff of darker pink, reminiscent of anemone dahlias. document.write(theDate.getFullYear()) Cori is a freelance writer based out of Ontario, Canada, who specializes in houseplants and houseplant care. Each recurving rose-pink ray petal is tipped with lime green, taking bicolor to the next level. Orange You Awesome and Yellow My Darling made their debut in garden centers this year and have been nothing short of dazzling to this point. Gently separate the root ball to isolate a new plant, and transplant immediately to a new location. Drooping coneflowers (Echinacea pallida), also commonly referred to as pale purple coneflowers, are a variety of Echinacea in the Asteraceae family. . Part of the Prairie Pillars collection, with long sturdy stems perfect for cut flowers, its bright yellow rays mellow as they age. Perfect for both small gardens and large prairie meadows, the showy flowers are a favorite nectar source for butterflies, bees and myriad pollinators, including hummingbirds. Early-bloomers like ‘Green Jewel’ and ‘Merlot’ start flowering in May, while cultivars such as ‘Fatal Attraction’, ‘Pica Bella’, and ‘Springbrook’s Crimson Star’ continue into September. Select healthy growing transplants not yet in flower. Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a popular perennial in Zones 3-9. I am thrilled, however, with the performance and pollinator attraction in Proven Winners new Color Coded group of coneflowers. Propagation: Divide clumps when crowded, about every 4 years. Keep your eyes open however next spring for Proven Winners new Color Coded series featuring Orange You Awesome, Yellow My Darling, The Price is White and Frankly Scarlet. Flower color: Most well-known are the purple coneflowers, but pink, red, orange, white, yellow and green varieties are available. Echinacea pallida is one of the three varieties of Echinacea that can be used for medicinal purposes. If you are thinking the echinacea was purple to hot pink, well it is, but something awesome has happened in the world of purple coneflowers and that is science. Echinacea purpurea, E. angustifolia, and E. pallida are commonly used in herbal remedies. The organism is spread by sap-sucking insects like leafhoppers (and can also be spread on pruners during deadheading). Seeds take approximately 3 to 4 weeks to germinate, and you should see true leaves at about 12 weeks. However, if deer are hungry enough, they will eat almost anything. Height/Spread: : Varieties 2 to 5 feet tall and 1-1/2 to 2 feet wide. Drooping coneflowers thrive in full sun and should receive at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Some gardeners choose a middle ground and collect the seeds and plant them in carefully selected spots for the following season. Find a Garden Center that carries Proven Winners plants & products. Probably the most popular of our native wildflowers. Discover the right plants for your garden. The Color Coded series is a group of four at this point with all sporting varietal names that cause you to take notice when you see them in the marketplace. Spring is still my favorite time to plant purple coneflowers. Drooping coneflower can be easily propagated by seed and by division. When grown in their native region, they are fairly self-sustaining and do not require much additional maintenance. Get planting advice, garden design tips and trends, monthly checklists for your area, product specials and more in our weekly newsletter. Many gardeners report that they are deer resistant. They make great additions to garden beds and borders, naturalized areas, prairies, and wildflower gardens. However, they are adaptable to light shade conditions but flowering may be less prominent. 20 Flowers for Your Summer Garden Mix early- and late-blooming varieties to enjoy colorful flowers up to 5 months. All Rights Reserved. That way you can leave them be, guaranteeing food for another beloved category of wildlife—birds, particularly small songbirds like goldfinches, which are crazy about the seeds. Be careful, over-feeding can lead to an abundance of foliage and a lack of flowers. With large fragrant flowers that are 4 to 5 inches across, ‘Green Jewel’ grows to form a compact clump. Drooping coneflowers (Echinacea pallida), also commonly referred to as pale purple coneflowers, are a variety of Echinacea in the Asteraceae family.They are distinguished from other coneflower varieties by their thin, drooping pale purple or white petals. Plant drooping coneflowers in soil that is well-draining as they cannot tolerate ‘wet feet’ or waterlogged soil. Early spring is still my favorite time to plant purple coneflowers. Overly rich or fertilized soil may cause drooping coneflowers to become leggy. Photo by: Proven Winners. Drooping coneflowers are highly adaptable to poor soils, and growth may actually suffer in overly rich or fertile soils. Unusual cones are deep green with hints of brown, lime green and purple. Place the seeds in an area that receives bright, indirect light as drooping coneflower seeds require light to germinate. Purple Coneflower blooms profusely for up to two months in mid to late summer and sometimes re-blooms in the fall.