Sloat Plant Pick for August

Echinacea purpurea
Coneflower

Echinacea, also known as ‘Purple Coneflower’ is famous for its healing properties, but it also looks gorgeous in Bay Area gardens! The coneflower is native to central and east coast Plains states. Its genus name, Echinacea, comes from the Greek ekinos, meaning spiny. The central disc flowers form a bristly cone resembling a small beehive. The cone becomes more pronounced as the seeds ripen. The ray flowers are reflexed, accentuating the cone.

Its adaptability to hot dry summers and poor soils makes it a welcome addition to our western perennial gardens. It will often die to the ground in really cold winters but reappears in late spring.  (Don’t be alarmed if it hasn’t reemerged in March). The usual color is mauve purple but there are now cultivars in white (see our August Gardener’s Reward Special) as well as hybrids in yellow and orange.  Echinacea is a beautiful cutting flower!

Echinacea plants prefer full sun and will take average to just moderate water.  They have a long taproot that further aids in adapting to low water areas. Bloom time is midsummer through fall.  It is best to keep them deadheaded (remove spent blooms) to keep them flowering freely.  They are very attractive to butterflies -- leave some of the seed heads on at the end of the season.  Not only will they “mark” the area where your coneflowers reside, but the seeds are used as food by goldfinches.