Purple Coneflower - Magnus

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)  is a native US plant that grows as easily as any weed in most of the continental US.  The variety I grow is the most popular of the cultivars and it is called Magnus.  There are many new varieties and hybrids that get mixed reviews, but Magnus is consistently praised wherever it is grown. 

The plant gets about 3' tall and most of the blooms are held up above the foliage.  The blooms are profuse and striking as you can see in the above picture.  The blooms begin in early summer and stay around for a month or so.   The leaves are medium green and sandpapery in feel.  The clump can get around 3' in diameter after a couple of years.  I have this plant growing in one of my backyard butterfly gardens along with butterfly bush, verbena, and salvia leucantha (Mexican bush sage.)

The blooms are about 3" around and daisylike.  I smell a distinct and pleasant fragrance on my blooms.  Butterflies and bees frequently visit these blooms.  Birds also love the seeds if you forego deadheading the blooms.

This plant is a reliable and long-lived perennial everywhere it grows.  You can divide the plant every two or three years to get more of them.  Also, they will re-seed in the vicinity if given the right conditions.  Coneflowers need nearly full sun and good drainage to thrive best.  They tolerate drought well and will grow in almost any soil type.  The flowers are long-lasting in a vase and have long stems that are perfect for cutting. This really is one of the best perennials to grow for a cottage garden or butterfly garden.

This One's for the Birds

Sunflowers are among the easiest annuals of all to grow.  Wait till the danger of frost is past, put the seeds in the ground and cover with 1/4" of soil, water, and leave alone.

The variety I planted the last two years is called Autumn Sunset.  This year, I didn't plant any sunflowers at all.  I just allowed natural seeds dropped from the plants last year to grow.  They easily re-seed if you let the flower heads mature and drop the seeds.

I prefer to let the flower heads dry on the stalk anyway because the local birds really appreciate it.  They will happily visit the dry heads for a snack.  Meanwhile, they will spread the seeds around for me.

Autumn Sunset is not meant to be used for people to eat.  There are much better varieties for that.  This is supposed to be an ornamental type.  As such, it makes multiple, small flowers per plant as opposed to one big one.  The flowers can have many different shades of orange and yellow in them and are very attractive.  They make a fine back-of-the-border flower in a butterfly/bird attracting garden.  The only pest I have seen on mine have been Leaf-footed stink bugs, but they didn't seem to damage the sunflowers.

Purple Coneflower

These days everyone is going crazy for the new colors of echinacea.  The purple coneflower is no longer purple!  I've heard bad reports on the performance of many of these new-colored plants, so I've stuck with the old stand-by "Magnus."  This is a proven performer that simply does its job of staying healthy and pumping out loads of lavender blooms.

This first picture shows the healthy growth on a plant in April before the blooms start.  It's an attractive plant even without the flowers.  I have this one growing in a butterfly bed, along with Homestead Purple verbena, Royal Red buddleia, Jacob Kline monarda, and verbena bonariensis.  This bed is a magnet for all types of butterflies as well as hummingbirds.  Echinacea is also quite popular with finches when the seed-heads ripen.

This shows a Magnus bloom as it first starts to turn purple.  The petals have this quill-like look when they first form. 

Here is Magnus in full bloom with a friendly bumblebee coming over for a visit.  As mentioned before, this is one of the top wildlife attractors that you can plant in a flower bed. 

The blooms last for many days on the plant.  If you deadhead, it will put out even more blooms.  The bloom season lasts for months.  I recommend leaving at least some of the seed heads on for the birds and to save some seeds of your own for either passing along to others or to plant for yourself.  This light shade of purple is a perfect mix in the cottage garden.  Give some love to the old-fashioned PURPLE coneflower!  Don't forget that this plant reliably returns every year, which makes it even more attractive.

Autumn Joy in Summer Time

Sunflowers are among the easiest to grow of all flowers. You just plop the seeds into the ground, cover them up, water, and watch them perform. They want full sun, but that's about it. They tolerate drought very well and bloom like crazy. Birds and bees love them. People also love them if you plant the right type! I don't plant them for us to eat, but I love seeing the birds and bees come and dine. I didn't have to plant any sunflowers this year because my forest of them came up voluntarily from plants I had last year. This variety is called Autumn Joy. It is a multi-headed type that comes in many shades of color. I love them!

Here are a few pictures of individual blooms so you can see the variety that they come in.

 

Below is an overall shot of my sunflower forest.

Autumn in the Summer

This has got to be one of my favorite photos that I've ever taken. Look at how beautiful these sunflower blooms are against the dark background. This is just how the picture came out with no doctoring of the photo at all. We just got back from 2 weeks of vacation in Tennessee and Virginia, and these babies were just posing for me when I got home this evening. I don't think I'll ever go a year without planting easy care sunflowers again. The birds appreciate my efforts too.

The Joy of Sunflowers

I don't know why it took me so long to get on the sunflower bandwagon. Probably because I don't like the ones with one huge flower head that droops over and nearly falls down. I've recently realized that there are tons of different types of sunflowers. This one above is called Autumn Joy. It makes a number of branches with numerous smaller flowers like the one above. They're beautiful and they really attract birds, which is the main reason I want them. They are thriving in our heat and drought down here in Louisiana. Another thing I love about them is their fast rate of growth. I'll definitely be planting this one again.