We value the purple coneflower as a great summer-flowering perennial in the native plant garden as well as the mixed perennial border. Coneflowers attract both butterflies and hummingbirds. Purple coneflower species are easy to grow, heat- and drought-tolerant native perennials. Two things that echinacea plants do not like are heavy clay soils and poor winter drainage.
We hope you are as excited as we are about the new coneflower plants that greatly extend the range of colors and forms. Purple coneflowers are no long just purple; they are also pink, red, yellow, peach, copper, orange and there are single or double-flowered hybrids too. We continue to trial the spectrum of new echinacea selections, offering only the best echinacea plants for sale after verifying their garden performance.
Are these cultivars as good for pollinators as the original E. purpurea? I love the way they look but don’t want to harm or deny pollinators.
Julia, they are just as good for pollinators. The bees and butterflies are all over our plants. If you want good seed set as a food source, it is best to have at least 2 different cultivars since they are limitedly self fertile.