Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 7-8-18, #473-7.
Eastern Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
ek-in-AY-shee-a pur-PUR-ee-uh
Synonyms of Echinacea purpurea (21) (Updated on 11-30-23 from Plants of the World Online): Brauneria purpurea (L.) Britton, Echinacea intermedia Lindl. ex Paxton, Echinacea purpurea var. arkansana Steyerm., Echinacea purpurea f. ligettii Steyerm., Echinacea purpurea var. serotina (Nutt.) L.H.Bailey, Echinacea serotina (Nutt.) D.Don ex G.Don, Helichroa alba Raf., Helichroa amoena Raf., Helichroa crocea Raf., Helichroa elatior Raf., Helichroa fusca Raf., Helichroa fuscata Raf., Helichroa linnaeana Raf., Helichroa purpurea (L.) Raf., Helichroa uniflora Raf., Lepachis purpurea Raf., Rudbeckia aspera Pers., Rudbeckia hispida Hoffmanns., Rudbeckia purpurea L., Rudbeckia purpurea var. serotina Nutt., Rudbeckia serotina (Nutt.) Sweet
Echinacea purpurea (L) Moench is the accepted scientific name for the Eastern Purple Coneflower. The genus and species were named and described as such by Conrad Moench in Methodus Plantas Horti Botanici et Agri Marburgensis in 1794. It was first named Rudbeckia purpurea by Carl von Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753.
As of 11-30-23 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online by Kew lists nine species in the Echinacea genus. It is a member of the plant family Asteraceae with 1,702 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on POWO. The number of genera in the family fluctuates quite often.
THERE ARE SEVERAL LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR FURTHER READING.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 5-18-18, #444-13.
I dug several divisions of this Echinacea purpurea from a business north of where I live. I have been “eye-balling” them for five years and finally decided I would ask if I could have a few divisions. I took the business owner a couple dozen eggs in the spring and told her I would clean up the bed if I could have a few divisions. She said, “Yeah, sure. They aren’t ours.” Well, they rent the building… So, I cleaned out the bed and removed all the previous year’s dead leaves, stems, and flowers. Then I brought home a few divisions.
I am sure the plants I brought home are a cultivar and not the “native” species. I haven’t grown the native species of Echinacea purpurea yet, but I intend to do so and have them in several locations throughout the farm. There are a lot of them growing along the highways. There are also many cultivars I would like to try. The plants I brought home could be Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ but since I am not sure, I am not going to say that’s what they are.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 5-18-18, #444-14.
I put most of the divisions n the flower bed behind the old foundation where my grandparent’s house used to be.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) in the southeast corner bed on 5-18-18, #444-15.
I put other divisions in the southeast corner bed the house. Only one survived transplanting in this bed.
USEFUL INFORMATION:
Family: Asteraceae
Zones: USDA zone 2a-10b (-50-35 ° F)
Size: 24-26” +
Light: Full sun to part shade
Soil: Well-drained soil
Water: Drought tolerant once established
Propagation: Division and seed
Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ (Purple Coneflower) on 6-14-18, #459-21.
The plants behind the old foundation did well and had started to bud when the above photo was taken on June 14.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ (Purple Coneflower) bud on 6-14-18, #459-22.
NICE!
Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ on (Purple Coneflower) 7-8-18, #473-7.
I am very happy the Purple Coneflower flowered. Yeah, I know the grass needs to be pulled in the bed but sometimes I get busy on the farm, or maybe it is too hot. I know I will think of more reasons if you give me a chance. 🙂
Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ (Purple Coneflower) on 7-29-18, #487-37.
After a couple of weeks, the flowers started to fade leaving behind the spiky cones. I never realized how stiff and sharp they were until I grew them myself.
<<<<2019>>>>
Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ (Purple Coneflower) on 3-24-19 #556-1.
I was happy to find the Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ made it through the winter and was starting to come up when the above photo was taken on March 24.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ‘?’ (Purple Coneflower) on 4-7-19, #558-8.
All the plants in the planter behind the old foundation and the southeast corner bed survived the winter.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 4-22-19, #561-8.
The Echinacea purpurea in the southeast corner bed is getting off to a good start. This is a tricky corner so I was very glad to see it returned.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 5-1-19, #564-23.
And growing very nicely…
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 5-5-19, #566-21.
The plants in the planter behind the old foundation are growing very well, too.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-1-19, #580-8.
By June 1, they are beginning to bud…
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-5-19, #583-15.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-9-19, #585-8.
It is interesting how some buds look compared to others. The Echinacea purpurea starts out with very tiny petals…
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-16-19, #591-14.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-26-19, #596-5.
Looking pretty good…
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 7-4-19, #598-1.
Looking MUCH better now. You can see how the petals have gotten longer. As days go by, the petals get longer and start to droop and the cones get larger.
<<<<2021>>>>
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-27-21, #805-5.
The Echinacea purpurea in the bed behind the old foundation and southeast corner of the house have really spread and are looking great.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple Coneflower) on 6-27-21, #805-6.
I think the flowers look pretty neat at this stage.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? (Purple coneflower)on 6-27-21, #805-7.
Of course, a Japanese Beetle had to get in a photo…
<<<<2022>>>>
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? on 3-20-22, #862-8.
The dried heads full of seeds are really neat and very spiky.
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? on 3-20-22, #862-9.
Even more interesting with the seeds all gone. That is a cone for sure!
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? on 3-21-22, #863-1.
The seeds…
Echinacea purpurea cv. ? on 7-26-22, #901-16.
The above photo is of the colony in the southeast corner bed next to the house. I put several here in 2019 but only one survived. It has spread and is thriving.
I will continue adding more photos and information as time goes by.
There is a lot of information online about the Echinacea purpurea but I just added a few good links below.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please check out the following links for further reading.
FOR FURTHER READING:
PLANTS OF THE WORLD ONLINE
(GENUS/SPECIES)
WIKIPEDIA (GENUS/SPECIES)
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER
THE SPRUCE
CORNELL UNIVERSITY GROWING GUIDE
The Belmont Rooster 
Wow! What a great blog, thanks for posting. What I find useful is knowing what early shoots of perennials look like in the spring. And the way you post your series of images as the season moves on is INCREDIBLY useful 🙂
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Hello Shauna! It is definitely important to know what the perennials look like when they first emerge in the spring. One thing I do is not to remove any dead stems in the fall and wait until new growth emerges in the spring. That way, even though early weeds like Chickweedcome up first, I will know where they are. Leaving tags in place also helps but sometimes the winter wind blows them somewhere else. Taking photos several times during the season also helps me to knowhow the plants have done in the past. It is like a journal. Thanks for the comment and I am glad to hear you find my blog useful.
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