Perennial Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, is the most widely grown of the purple coneflower clan. It has become so ubiquitous in the landscape that most gardeners are familiar with the basics: Purple Coneflower is easy to grow, blooms across a long season, especially if deadheaded, and has beautiful flowers. A native perennial and attractive to birds (if allowed to go to seed late in summer), Purple Coneflower has, to my mind, no real faults. I’ve quoted Fred McGourty before as saying that one shouldn’t grow a plant that is familiar in other gardens, and I generally agree. However, I’m of the hope that you will include Purple Coneflower in your own garden. Purple Coneflower’s perennial goodness is impossible to deny.

Stems are hairy (sort of like my Aunt Maude’s legs…in my precocious childhood I only made the mistake of trying to look up her dress once) and stiff…so no staking required. Birds, bees, and butterflies frequent Purple Coneflower. Goldfinches love this plant in late summer so long as the gardener can refrain from deadheading after mid-July. Stunning planted with a backdrop such as as a stone wall or white fence. Combines will with black-eyed susans, either Rudbecka goldsturm or Rudbeckia hirta, but you see a lot of that already. A bold gardener might try it with red (Cardinal Flower in a shady background) or white (Phlox perhaps?).

Purple Coneflower in Herbal Medicine
Echinacea is widely sold as an herbal medicine for a number of ailments, including circulatory and respiratory. Plants in this genus were used widely by native North Americans in various treatments ranging from burns, snakebites, insect stings. It is claimed to have antibacterial qualities. The most common use of Purple Coneflower today is to aid in assisting the immune system in fighting such maladies as the common cold and flu.

Is Purple Coneflower Effective as an Herbal Treatment for colds?
I have no idea. I’ve used it occasionally when I have had a cold, but can’t say it helped or hindered. In 2006, a clinical study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine whose findings reported that Purple Coneflower has no benefit in relieving symptoms associated with the common cold. Dr. Ronald Turner, professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the lead author of the study, stated, “If that’s the reason you’re buying it (Echinacea), then you’re wasting your money”. Of course, this led to howling from various quarters, and the debates rage on (As Deepthroat told Bob Woodward: “Follow the money”). Having now successfully woven Watergate and Purple Coneflower together, I can scribe a few more words and ride.

Purple Coneflower Varieties of Note
Magnum - rays are more horizontal (eyebrows slightly raised…Why market a new variety that eliminates one of the defining characteristics of the original?).
Bright Star - deeper rose color
Bravado - larger blooms

Note: Don’t knock yourself out finding these varieties. Nice, but only such. If you really want to shine, go grab yourself some Echinacea pallida, Pale Coneflower. Word.

Common Name: Purple Coneflower
Scientific Name: Echinacea purpurea, Rudbeckia purpurea
Classification: Perennial
Native to: Eastern United States
Zones: 2 - 10
Flowers: magenta/purple/pink
Flowering Season: Early to mid-summer.
Flower Size: 2-4 inches
Growth Habit: 2-5 feet Does not need staking.
Use: perennial gardens, native gardens, meadows, wildflower gardening.
Ease of Culture: Easy.
Sunlight: Direct to partial shade.
Water Requirements: Rain is enough.
Soil Requirements: Not too particular.

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