Echinacea is a wildly popular flower that blooms in stunning colors, flower shapes, and sizes all summer long.
Commonly called Coneflower, Echinacea is a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant perennial that returns year after year, growing broader and more beautiful with little care. Pollinators adore its daisy-like blooms, drawn in by generous offerings of nectar and pollen that keep local bees and butterflies coming back all season.
Native to North American prairies and now bred to shine in the garden, Echinacea can be used in a number of ways, including mass plantings, dotted through existing perennial beds with grasses and other flowers, or in container gardens. Easy to grow and endlessly versatile, this perennial is sure to be a garden favorite for years to come!
How to Use Echinacea in Garden Design
Echinacea works well in many different settings and garden design styles, including modern meadows, low-maintenance and drought-tolerant landscapes, and even in mixed container garden plantings. It has strong, deep roots that allow it to perform well when layered tightly beside other plants in the garden.
Prairie-Style Gardens
Echinacea is a quintessential flower for use in modern meadow landscape design styles influenced by natural prairies, including Bohemian gardens which embrace loose, layered planting, seasonal blooms, and a naturalistic, free-spirited aesthetic. Learn more about designing a Bohemian-style garden with Echinacea through our blog or in our FREE Bohemian Landscape Design Guide.
Low-Maintenance Landscapes
Echinacea needs very little care and is perfect for adding en masse into simple planting schemes without the need for attention from skilled gardeners. Because of their easy care and ability to thrive with very little water, we’ve featured them in our 7 Best Drought-Tolerant Plants List as a top pick for beauty and resilience in low-water landscapes.
Container Garden All-Star
Echinacea can tolerate tightly-packed containers and provide recurring perennial interest that works well in a range of container styles. Because it is available in a wide range of colors and with tall or dwarf varieties, it is perfect for use in virtually any Summer container garden scheme.
Companion Plants for Echinacea
1. Plant Echinacea in mixed, Bohemian garden plantings with Ornamental Grasses like Pennisetum, Panicum, Stipa, Deschampsia, and Fescue. SHOP GRASSES
2. Echinacea performs very well when paired with other sun-loving, drought-tolerant perennials like Lavender, Agastache, Scabiosa, Gaura, and Helianthemum. SHOP SUN PERENNIALS
3. Echinacea makes an eye-catching, Summer-blooming addition to plantings of Evergreen Sun Shrubs like Cistus, Choisya, Pittosporum, Abelia, and Escallonia. SHOP EVERGREEN SUN SHRUBS
4. Echinacea is well-complemented by Sun Annuals like Snapdragons, Cosmos, Marigolds, and Zinnias, especially when the Echinacea plants are young and are still filling in. SHOP SUN ANNUALS
Our Favorite Echinacea Varieties by Flower Color
PINK/PURPLE:
- Standard – Magnus, Merlot, Kim's Knee High
- Dwarf – Sombrero Rosada
- Double – Double Scoop Watermelon
PEACH/CORAL ECHINACEA:
- Standard – Prima Ginger
- Dwarf – Sombrero Hot Coral
- Double – Fresco Apricot, Cara Mia Coral
RED ECHINACEA:
- Standard – Solar Flare
- Dwarf – Sombrero Salsa Red, Kismet Red
- Double – Sunny Days Ruby
ORANGE ECHINACEA:
- Standard – Tangerine Dream, Flame Thrower
- Dwarf – Sombrero Adobe Orange
- Double – SunSeekers Mineola
YELLOW ECHINACEA:
- Standard – Aloha
- Dwarf – Prima Saffron
- Double – Cara Mia Yellow, Sunny Days Lemon
GREEN ECHINACEA:
- Standard – Green Jewel, Alan's Pride
- Double – SunSeekers Apple Green
MULTICOLOR ECHINACEA:
- Standard – Sweet Sandia, Cheyenne Spirit
- Dwarf – Kismet Pink Lemonade
- Double – SunSeekers Rainbow
WHITE ECHINACEA:
- Standard – White Swan
- Dwarf – Kismet White
- Double – Delicious Nougat
Care Tips for Growing Echinacea
Cold hardy to Zone 3 or 4, Echinaceas are resilient herbaceous perennials that die back all the way to the ground in Winter and re-emerge in Spring. Not only are they loved by pollinators including bees and butterflies, they are resistant to both deer and rabbits and are not bothered by insect pests! Follow the easy care tips below for gorgeous blooms from mid-June through September.
1. Plant in full sun and well-draining soil: Echinacea thrives in full sun and slightly alkaline soil conditions (add lime when planting in acidic soils). Proper site selection is critical—it may be prone to root rot in poorly drained soils. If heavy, clay soil is an obstacle to planting in the ground, Echinacea make fantastic container plants that can be grown in pots for years!
2. Water at first, then do less: Echinacea plants are drought tolerant once they are established, but new plantings will benefit from regular watering for at least the first year.
3. No need to fertilize: Avoid over-fertilizing, which may cause weak, floppy growth—a light, yearly top dressing of compost should provide sufficient nutrition in average gardens.
4. Cut flowers regularly for more blooms: Deadhead or cut blooms at their peak to encourage more flowering. As a cut flower, Echinacea is long-lasting and makes a beautiful floral or architectural accent in bouquets—it's even one of our 7 Best Cut Flowers for Long-Season Blooms!
5. Leave the seeds for birds: As flowers fade, the dried Echinacea seed heads become a food source for many types of birds. Let plants stand through Winter to keep the seed heads in place, then cut back in Spring as new growth begins.
With so many stunning Echinacea varieties in stock at our Garden Centers, come visit and see which one strikes your fancy—there’s sure to be a perfect match for your garden!