Tis the season for the incredibly beautiful coneflower! If you were trapped on a desert island (with a climate of zone 4 to 8) and could only plant one native flower, you would be a very smart person to pick Echinacea, aka coneflower. Why? For starters, it comes in a dozen different colors and sizes. The flower doesn’t have to be a single color. There are varieties that grow orange & white and pink & purple. The petals come in different sizes and shapes too. You can get them with droopy petals, short petals, long petals, skin petals and fat petals. The center of the coneflower, or eye, can also be big, little, single colored or multicolored. They can grow anywhere from one foot tall to as high as 5 feet.
From Top Left to Bottom Right: Secret Lust, Magnus, Kim’s Knee High, Salsa Red, Summer Sky, PowWow Wildberry
Along with the height of the coneflowers, you can also cultivate them to spread throughout a bed, lawn or side yard. Combine them with a Panicum or Pennisetum grass can create a picturesque vista even Piet Oudolf would adore. You will have a little slice of meadow heaven right out your door.
Combine Panicum with Coneflowers to have an incredible display of native extravagance
Beyond the awesomeness of the variety of colors, textures, petal structure, heights and other characteristics, you will find a landscape of ecological and edible attributes just as exciting for the coneflower. Bees and butterflies pollinate coneflowers. The Monarch butterfly favors the nectar of the coneflowers as well. This makes it a vital plant to maintain the pollution of Monarchs. Along with the Monarchs, other butterfly species such as Fritillaries, Painted Ladies and Swallowtails also love its nectar. Blue Jays, Cardinals and Goldfinches eat the seeds of the flower.
In the winter, you don’t need to prune the flowers back. Instead, leave them standing with the grasses you planted with them. The way the snow lays on the big eyes of the coneflower and the way they turn brown give a new life to them that makes your garden a year round beauty. Plus, birds will continue to feed on the seeds throughout the cold months.
In terms of humans, everything from coneflower extract, dried root and tea can be used for medicinal purposes as treatment for coughs, colds, insect stings, animal bites, and skin diseases. But it most be used with caution especially if you are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. Always, always, always be careful when you use plants for medical reasons. Make sure to talk with experts in the field. If you aren’t sure how much or little to use, I’d suggest don’t use it at all.
The coneflower is a wonderful option for your yard. As an ornamental, you can decorate your yard to standout as one of the most attractive in the neighborhood. It adds value to the environment, offers food for other species and can even help you cure the common cold.
In the winter, you don’t need to prune the flowers back. Instead, leave them standing with the grasses you planted with them. The way the snow lays on the big eyes of the coneflower and the way they turn brown give a new life to them that makes your garden a year round beauty. Plus, birds will continue to feed on the seeds throughout the cold months.
In terms of humans, everything from coneflower extract, dried root and tea can be used for medicinal purposes as treatment for coughs, colds, insect stings, animal bites, and skin diseases. But it most be used with caution especially if you are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. Always, always, always be careful when you use plants for medical reasons. Make sure to talk with experts in the field. If you aren’t sure how much or little to use, I’d suggest don’t use it at all.
The coneflower is a wonderful option for your yard. As an ornamental, you can decorate your yard to standout as one of the most attractive in the neighborhood. It adds value to the environment, offers food for other species and can even help you cure the common cold.
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