Because birds and plants are so interconnected, you can attract specific birds by growing specific plants.
Loading...
Search
Echinacea purpurea eastern purple coneflower
eastern purple coneflower
Characteristics
Descriptions
Light Requirements
sun, part-sun
Soil Moisture
dry, moist
Soil Description
neutral, rich, average, poor, clay, sand, gravel/rock
Height
2'-4'
Recommended Spacing
12"-16"
Bloom Time
May, June, July, August, September
Bloom Color
purple, pink
Hardiness Zone
4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Description
No perennial garden can be complete without this classic! The rigid stems of Echinacea purpurea are terminally branched into 8"– to 12"–long flowering stalks, and can grow to a height of 5'. The stems are green, often spotted with reddish-brown streaks, and sparsely covered in fine, white hairs. The stalks are terminated by a single, large, purple, daisy-like flower that can measure 4" across. The spiky, conical central disk inspired the genus name Echinacea, which derives from the Greek word echino, meaning "hedgehog." The leaves are ovate, tapering to a point, with widely-spaced teeth. They are up to 6" at the base of the plant, gradually decreasing in size towards the top of the stem. The seeds resemble small, dark-brown sunflower seeds.
Cultivation
Eastern purple coneflower is very easy to grow in average garden conditions. It prefers moist, well-drained soil and full sun. Though not really drought tolerant, it can withstand dry spells if grown in part sun. The plants have short, robust rhizomes that will slowly spread to form dense colonies. The bloom period is in mid-summer but can begin as early as mid-spring—in its southern range—and lasts well over a month. It will often have a secondary bloom period in early fall. Deadheading is not necessary for plants to rebloom, but it can help maintain a tidy appearance (although it disappoints the goldfinches that enjoy the seeds).
Eastern purple coneflower can be short lived, so allowing some self-seeding will maintain its presence in the garden.
Recommended Spacing
Space plants 12"-16" on center
Companion Plants
Eastern purple coneflower looks great with many perennials. Companions with overlapping bloom times include pollinator magnets like Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), Coreopsis palmata (stiff tickseed) and Penstemon hirsutus (hairy beardtongue). Create a beautiful color echo by interplanting with Liatris species, like Liatris scariosa (devil's bite) or Liatris spicata (dense blazing star). For blooms and pollinator support later in the season, aim for Rudbeckia fulgida (orange coneflower) and related varieties and cultivars, along with fall-blooming asters such as Symphyotrichum oolentangiense (skyblue aster) or Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (aromatic aster) and its cultivars. Grassy companions might include Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed), Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama), Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass), or Schizachyrium scoparium (little blustem) and its cultivars.
Additional Notes
This species is attractive to bees, bumblebees, butterflies including Monarchs, and a variety of birds. It can also be considered deer resistant. The dried flowers of Echinacea purpurea can be used in herbal teas. It is believed to have broad medicinal qualities, and is often considered a panacea for everything that might ail you.
Pricing & Availability
Maps, Wetland Status & More
MAP OF NATIVE RANGE
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
Native To
| AL, AR, CT, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, VA, WI, WV, CO, FL, LA, TX |
Legal Status
| Endangered | FL |
| Probably Extirpated | MI |
Wetland Status
MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS
Interpreting Wetland Status
|
Code |
Status |
Designation |
Comment |
|
OBL |
Obligate Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Almost always occur in wetlands |
|
FACW |
Facultative Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands |
|
FAC |
Facultative |
Hydrophyte |
Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands |
|
FACU |
Facultative Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands |
|
UPL |
Obligate Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Almost never occur in wetlands |
Classification
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants |
| Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons |
| Subclass | Asteridae | |
| Order | Asterales | |
| Family | Asteraceae | Aster family |
| Genus | Echinacea | purple coneflower |
| Species | Echinacea purpurea | eastern purple coneflower |
ADDITIONAL COMMON NAMES:
purple coneflower
SCIENTIFIC SYNONYMS:
Echinacea purpurea var. arkansana
Brauneria purpurea
Rudbeckia purpurea
Plant Sizes
Sizes Sizes
Sizes info
Shipping & Planting
SHIPPING INFO:
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
PLANTING INFO:
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.