Coneflowers (Echinacea) produce long-lasting daisy-like flowers beginning in early to midsummer and continue until frost in the fall. These hardy perennials thrive in UDSA planting zones 3 through 9, depending on the cultivar, making them the ideal flower to add to your Maine flower bed.
Available in a variety of colors from the traditional purple coneflower to gorgeous shades of pink, red, yellow and orange of Burpee’s “Warm Summer” collection pictured above, this flower is a show stopper in the garden. Plants typically reach heights of two to three feet and spread to 18 inches.
Soil: Coneflowers prefer evenly moist well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 8.0, but will tolerate drought once they are established.
Light: Coneflowers can be grown in either full or partial sun. Full sun means six to eight hours of direct sunlight a day, while partial sun typically refers to four to six hours of direct sunlight a day.
Fertilizer: Coneflowers are not heavy feeders, but benefit from fertilizer in the spring when new growth appears. While the Clemson University Extension recommends an application of 1 tablespoon of 12-6-6 fertilizer per plant, you can also use water-soluble fertilizer designed for blooming plants in the spring. Those grown in containers benefit from fertilizer once a month to replace nutrients that leach through the soil during watering.
Deadheading: Coneflowers require little deadheading because the blooms are long lasting, but removing the faded blooms does promote further blooming.
Mulching: Mulching under coneflowers suppresses weeds and keeps the soil moist, but it does inhibit the spread of the flowers, as new plants typically emerge around the base of the plants.
Propagation: Coneflowers should be divided in the fall every three to five years. They can be divided in the spring, but growth may be inhibited for the first season.
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