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Echinacea purpurea | Purple Coneflower

The above photo was taken in 2022 and shows how the 5 foot tall stems in a garden bed are just too tall when they fall over and sprawl out over the stone wall. It does not show how far they are sticking out from the wall, but it sure did make for a pretty photo.

2017, June 25

2019, June 24

2023 -- going to get better at marking the first bloom date on these later garden flowers!

(Pronounced ek-in-AY-see-uh) (Greek word of "echinos" meaning “hedgehog” or "sea-urchin" as the flower is prickly)

(Pronounced pur-PUR-ee-uh) (Meaning Purple)

The family is  Asteraceae (Pronounced  ass-ter-AY-see-eye ) which is daisies and sunflowers.

There are 40 subcategories of Echinacea that are listed here as cultivars.

The purple coneflower is recognized as a native to most prairies. I do love the idea of prairie flower fields. It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie and makes me think of fields of tall flowers blowing in the wind.

They can be 2 feet to 5 feet and my experience is that the native plants in my gardens tend to be 5 feet tall. It seems I have bought so many of these plants over the years and somehow they disappear. I really think it is my hubby who weeds them every year, so I am going to attempt to be better and marking their location so they are not plucked by human hands in the Spring. I did have two varieties and I found the rabbits eating them every leaf that would appear until they were no more as well.

These flowers make great cut flowers or dried flowers and there are usually plenty on one plant to share with the indoor vases as well as to leave in the outdoor spaces.

The gold finches visit my purple coneflowers every year to literally shred them apart! The birds are so fervent and fascinating to watch as they go about their task of disseminating my beautiful flower. It seems they have no reservation in pulling off every petal to get to the seeds inside.

The below photos were taken on July 30, 2023, when filming the above video. One photo in 2022 is above.

The below photos were taken in 2021.

I absolutely love this series of photos as the garden was so beautiful! I put some of this series of photos on other pages for other flower types. Many of these flowers are gone and I want to get this scene back! The rabbits got the short dark pink and white coneflowers. I tried to save them but could not. Now I am going to start putting inexpensive mesh trash cans from the dollar store over my coneflowers in the Spring until they get too tall for the rabbits to devour.

The below photos were taken in 2020.

They looked SO lovely with the Salvia yangii ( previously Perovskia atriplicifolia) | Russian Sage

The below photos were taken in 2019.

The below photos were taken in 2018.

I put a blanket behind them to try to get an artistic shot.

The below photos were taken in 2017.

The below photos were taken in 2016.

The below photo was taken in 2014.

The below photos were taken in 2008.

The below photos were taken in 2007.

The below photos were taken in 2006.

The below photo was taken in 2002.

I found these tags from purchases and this flower could be one of these. Both were in 2020.

The above and the below were both purchased in 2020. Since I only have one Purple Coneflower left in my garden, it is obvious that I have purchased many over the years and they are continually pulled as weeds in the Spring. I need to mark them better and learn how to recognize them. Only the one that survived year after year must look like a flower when it comes up in the Spring. The one below is a Glade Coneflower Echinacea Simulata and I do not know enough about the differences between the two species. The Missouri Wildflower Nursery where these plants came from, purchased at the Missouri Conservation Center annual plant sale, says, "Similar to pale-purple coneflower, but more vibrant color & begins blooming a week earlier."

 

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