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All About Coneflowers
The explosion of echinacea varieties provides plenty of choice for gardeners in need of a carefree prennial
**Native to North America**, purple coneflowers once dotted thousands of square miles of rolling prairie, mingling with grasses and drawing a host of insects to their daisy-like blooms. Purple coneflowers not only nourished butterflies and bees but also provided native peoples and early settlers with one of their most important medicinal plants. Today, you don't need prairie-sized spaces to grow the amazing variety of coneflowers available. Of the nine coneflower species, *Echinacea purpurea* has become a garden stalwart, offering a colourful display from midsummer to fall, and wonderful winter interest with its decorative black cones (not to mention seeds for the birds).
Thanks to gardeners' growing interest in native plants, wild coneflower species are being bred to create a scintilating selection of unusual forms, different colours and varying sizes—all of which offer greater garden pizzazz. In fact, since the late 1990s, breeders have gone cone-crazy: take the unique pom-pom headed 'Razzmatazz' from Dutch grower Jan van Winsen; the 'Big Sky' series of orange and gold blooms from ItSaul Plants near Atlanta; and the diminutive pink 'Pixie Meadowbrite' from the Chicago Botanic Garden, to name a few.
In the garden, coneflowers take your breath away as a single-statement mass planting or combine beautifully with other native plants such as gayfeather (*Liatris*), goldenrod (*Solidago*), black-eyed Susan (*Rudbeckia*), Joe Pye weed (*Eupatorium*), queen of the prairie (*Filipendula rubra*) and of course prairie grasses, including big bluestem, switch grass and prairie dropseed. Often surprisingly fragrant, coneflowers also make fine cut flowers. Many arrangers like to use only the cones, which, when hung upside down and dried, last virtually forever.
Growing these sturdy, low-maintenance perennials is easy. Just give them rich well-drained soil, sun (though they will tolerate some shade) and a healthy dose of benign neglect for at least three or four years when mature clumps can be divided.
##The mystical little cure-all##
For centuries, North American native peoples used *Echinacea* species (*E. angustifolia, E. pallida, E. purpurea*) to treat a host of ailments including snakebites, cuts and burns, as well as rabies, toothaches, coughs and colds. Early settlers picked up on the plant's healing benefits as did the Eclectics, a group of physicians who incorporated botanical remedies into their practice. By the late 1800s, *Echinacea* was a popular medicine, and products containing it, such as Meyer's Blood Purifier in the 1870s, promised to cure everything from carbuncles to diphtheria.
**Can you make your own?** Ashima Suneja, a naturopath at The Centre for Health in Toronto, does not recommend the preparation of homemade *Echinacea* tincture or salves. She says the process is complicated, and the dosage needs to be quite large to have any therapeutic value. Perhaps a better way to use the plant for healing is to buy the lovely soft-pink coneflower called 'Hope' at your local nursery or garden centre—part of the proceeds from every sale go to breast cancer research.
##Did you know...##
...the name *Echinacea* comes from the Greek *echinos* meaning hedgehog, referring to the spikey cone.
...coneflowers belong to the daisy family, Asteraceae.
...coneflowers are an excellent nectar source for butterflies, including monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers and viceroys.
...coneflowers are deer-resistant, but gophers and moles will eat the roots.
...their coarse, hairy leaves and bristly stems make coneflowers drought-tolerant once established.
...there are 8,000 *Echinacea* seeds in an ounce, compared to poppies' 200,000 per ounce.
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Keep reading for two more coneflower selections.
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