16 Gorgeous Coneflowers to Plant Right Now to Brighten Your Garden
Why settle for one type of coneflower when you can grow so many stunning varieties?
Coneflowers are one of the easiest perennials to grow in your garden. These hardy flowers are native to North America and bloom for a long period of time, attracting pollinators and making a great choice for cutting gardens. With their cheerful, daisy-like appearance, they’re equally at home in a cottage garden, mixed borders, rock gardens, or a more formal setting.
Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) do best in full sun, which is 6 or more hours of direct sunlight per day. This plant tolerates a wide range of soils, even poor or sandy types. They’re drought-tolerant once established, though they bloom better with regular watering if it’s very dry.
Coneflowers typically don’t need fertilizer or you may get too much foliage and no flowers. These plants grow in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 9 (find your zone here) and will come back for several years. Deadhead regularly to encourage blooms until fall.
Once your coneflowers have faded for the season, you can cut them back by a third, or you can leave the flowerheads intact over the winter to provide food for birds. In the spring, cut back the dead parts before they start to show signs of new growth.
Other gardening stories you’ll love:
- 15 Flowers That Grow Easily From Seed
- 10 Plants to Prune Now for Summer Blooms
- 15 Easiest Flowers to Grow for Blooms All Summer
Ahead, our favorite coneflowers to grow in your garden.
'Big Kahuna'
Height: 20 inches
Mango-colored blooms make this a lovely choice for mixed borders. The strong, upright stems and sweet scent also make them ideal in cutting gardens.
'French Tips'
Height: 20 inches
With pretty pink, white-tipped petals, this charming coneflower is one-of-a-kind so it's the perfect accent plant for your garden. It keeps a tidy mound shape, and pollinators love this delightful, fragrant flower.
Read more: How to Make A Butterfly Garden
'Moab Sunset'
Height: 12 inches
With a more compact height, this brilliantly-colored coneflower adds zing to any container or mixed border. The large, long-lasting flowers cover the plant.
Double Scoop 'Bubble Gum'
Height: 16 inches
These are the cutest coneflowers ever, with double flowers in a pom pom shape! With a deep saturated pink that doesn’t fade, these add long-lasting drama to your sunny landscape.
Read more: 26 Sun-Loving Perennials for Your Garden
Prima 'Saffron'
Height: 12 inches
The compact habit of this tidy plant works in containers, rock gardens, or in the middle or front of borders. The intense yellow blooms make an impact in your garden.
Prima 'Tiger'
Height: 10 inches
Two-tone petals in fall colors make this a favorite for contrast against other plantings, such as catmint or lavender. Due to its petite height, this coneflower works in containers or at the front of garden beds.
Sombrero 'Granada Gold'
Height: 18 inches
This beautiful gold coneflower adds so much to your garden with its bushy, compact form and tons of flowers! Pollinators will love this bright and cheery variety.
Cara Mia 'Seashell'
Height: 12 inches
Darling pink bowl-shaped flowers with a green center make these an adorable addition to cut bouquets. They’re truly a stand-out for color and form.
Read more: How to Design and Grow a Cutting Garden
'Giddy Pink'
Height: 16 inches
Deep, dark pink double blooms make this an eye-catching addition to your perennial beds. Even a single cut stem makes a lovely display on an end table or nightstand.
Artisan 'Red Ombre'
Height: 24 inches
Each of these large flowers changes colors as it ages--from deep red to soft orange-y coral. It’s a bright and beautiful coneflower for landscape beds, and it’s especially striking when planted in masses.
Sombrero 'Lemon Yellow'
Height: 18 inches
Happy yellow flowers top mounds of bright green foliage. This is the perennial to add to borders for pops of sunny color, even on cloudy days.
Sombrero 'Rosada'
Height: 18 inches
Gorgeous drifts of rosy hot pink flowers make this an eye-catching addition to garden beds. Like all coneflowers, it’s also deer resistant so it’s a great choice if Bambi likes to visit your garden.
Read more: 38 Deer-resistant Plants to Protect Your Garden from Bambi and Friends
'Crazy Pink'
Height: 18 inches
Pink flowers with an orange-y center add contrast to mixed borders. The flowers appear earlier than on other varieties. Each plant boasts up to 100 flowers on a mature plant.
'Tres Amigos'
Height: 22 inches
Can’t decide on just one color? This variety shows off three different colors as each flower fades from coral to pink to burgundy. It’s truly stunning!
Princess 'Bride'
Height: 12 inches
A nice mounded habit topped with white flowers and green-ish centers make this a great coneflower for mixed planting beds. Foliage goes all the way to the ground, giving it a nice, finished look at the front of borders.
Double Scoop 'Strawberry Deluxe'
Height: 20 inches
Double petals, a brilliant, juicy red color, and a pom pom shape make this coneflower an elegant addition to garden beds. Plant in masses for the biggest impact.
The 8 Summer Gardening Tasks Experts Never Skip
The Tastiest Fall Fruits and Veggies in Season Now
Cold-Loving Winter Flowers to Brighten Dark Days
How to Seed Your Lawn Like a Pro This Fall
