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  • From the Archives

    • Purple Coneflower

    Echinacea purpurea

    Purple Coneflowers symbolize Michiganders better than any flower I can think of. They stand tall in everything from the muggy heat of July to the frosty cool of October mornings. They grow with their roots in clay soil almost as well as they grow in fertile loam. And through it all, they look good!

    Purple Coneflower prefers full sun, but it will tolerate light shade. It doesn’t need to be fertilized, and established plants need no supplemental watering. If you have an area of your yard that you can’t easily get to, but would still like to look attractive, plant coneflowers there. In time, they will develop into nice sized clumps of pinkish purple blooms. The flowers do a wonderful job of attracting butterflies to your property. And as an added bonus, if you don’t deadhead them, and leave the flower stalks standing, the seeds in the center “cone” of the blooms will provide fall and winter food for your backyard birds. I usually deadhead my coneflowers for the first month of bloom or so to promote more blooms. After that, I let the flowers stay so I have fall and winter interest.If you decide to do this, you may find, as I have, that the petals get very unattractive once they start declining.


    If this bothers you, simply pull off the petals and leave the “cone” in place.

    To plant Purple Coneflower, dig a hole twice the width of the root ball, and the same depth. Tease the roots out a bit so that they go out into the surrounding soil, and backfill. It would be a good idea to give the plant a good 18 inches or so to spread. The clumps grow slowly over the years. You can divide clumps of coneflower, and indeed, you may want to. One of my clumps is four years old this year, and the middle is looking a little bare and tired. Coneflower should be divided in the spring or fall. Simply dig up the plant and cut or pull it apart into divisions. Compost any parts that are dead or weak looking, and replant the rest at the same depth they were originally growing. The plants will look much better for your efforts.

    If purple isn’t really your thing, you can also get white coneflowers easily in most garden centers. I have also seen pale yellow coneflowers around at area nurseries this year. Regardless of color, coneflowers play well with many other plants. Consider planting them in a border with Russian sage, Black-Eyed Susan, Daylilies, Sedum “Autumn Joy,” and Yarrow. Purple Coneflower works best in an informal, cottage-style or meadow garden. The leaves are not very attractive, and I would suggest planting something short in front of your coneflower to camouflage them.

    The Purple Coneflower is another one of those plants that are perfect for busy Michigan gardeners. They need very little attention (thriving on neglect, really) and, in return, will give you weeks and weeks of cheerful blooms.