Re: Purple cone flowers

Dear Meum71;
Just a brief note to let you know that your fact sheet is very useful to me and probably most
of the list members.  Thank for posting it!
Alex Teller

Meum71 wrote:

> I hope this is not a waste of the lists time- I am working on a few fact
> sheets for my customers and I hope they might be useful to the list.
>
> Here is the one for ECHINACEA.
> If it is not worth the lists  time I will not post any other ones as they are
> finished.
>
> Plants for sun
> ECHINACEA
>
> The purple cone flowers or Echinacea are closely related to Rudbeckia which
> include the black- eyed-Susan.  They are native to north America - growing
> generally in dry areas like grasslands and stony out-croppings in forested
> areas. These plants make great plants for the perennial border blooming early
> to mid summer, with large showy  flowers. The daisy like flowers are pink or
> purple or white (yellow in one species)
>
>   There are five to nine species including:
>
>  E. angustifolia = From the prairies of north central U.S. and Canada.  This
> plant has long lax petals that hangs down from a round central cone.  The
> petals are thin and rose-purple to pale whitish-purple in color. The flowers
> are up to six inches in size. This plant grows to 4 feet in height and 18
> inches wide with a nice erect form. E. angustifolia is  not much used in the
> garden but should  make a nice addition to the wild meadow or grassland. Used
> also for medicinal purposes too. Zones 4-9
>
> E. pallida = This plant is like E. angustifolia except that it is larger
> growing up to 3-4 feet tall in size and 24 inches wide. This plant is native
> from central to south central U.S.  It has the same long hanging petals and is
> pink to pale purple in color.   This plant is great for the naturalizing or
> the sunny border, it is showy and different . It looks good in a vase and
> growing in the border, were the flowering stalk rises above any foliage. Zones
> 4-8
>
> E. paradoxa = this is the odd ball of the group with yellow flowers. This
> plant is from Kansas and Arkansas to Missouri and north Texas. It grows in a
> very narrow habitat restricted in the wild to dry prairie knobs.  Upright
> growing with large showy yellow flowers. Highly recommended for prairia and
> border plantings.
>
> E. purpurea = this the garden purple cone flower. Native from Virginia to Iowa
> south to Georgia and Louisiana. It is found in open woods and on prairies. It
> grows to one meter in height and has a long stiff stem with one large showy
> purple flower.  The flower has long rays that reflex down some what with a
> cone that is hard and prickly. This is a much valued perennial for the garden
> loved by butterflies and people.
> Great for cutting and drying.  The dried center cones make a very long lasting
> dried flower-collect them in the late fall when the plants seeds are ripe.
> There are a number of forms that are more showy than the species and these
> include:
>         ‘Bravado'        with 4-41/2 inches flowers with more horizontal growing petals and
> a more rounder shape to the flower than other forms.
>
> ‘Bright Star'   Purple red flowers with lightly lax petals. Three to four feet
> tall.
>
> ‘Magnus'        With larger flowers to 7 inches and darker orange cones, deep purple
> in color and nice outward growing petals.
>
>         ‘White Swan' Has white flowers on many branched stems, 41/2 inches across
> with large orange cones with the petals more or less dropping down.
>
>         ‘White Swan' x ‘Bright Star' Produces plants that have a variation in color
> from purple to pink to white. The plants have larger cones with nice orange
> coloring and a more branched habitat- mine I would say bloom twice as much as
> other purple forms.  So far this has been the showiest cross for me, with many
> flowers open at the same time clustered in a nice dense pattern atop the 3-4
> foot plants.
>
> E. tennesseenis = Upright growing plant with linear leaves and four inch
> flowers that have greenish-pink disks.  Dark-mauve petals, single flowers on
> 24-36 inches plants. Not a strong grower-but nice looking plants in the wild
> flower garden-rare. Zones 3-9.
>
> Cultivation of Echinacea:
>
> Grow in deep well drained soil-they like sandy soils and are short lived on
> clay soils. Full sun to light shade, easy to over winter.  Cut back stems
> after flowering to encourage more flowers and to prevent self seeding.
>
> Problems:
>
> Leaf minors powdery mildew-darn woodchucks, bacterial spots, root aphids, gray
> mold and vine weevils. I have some that have developed stunted growth with
> malformed flower heads that are green - I think it is caused by the cresol
> from the light post they are growing next to or from some viral infection.
> Plants self sow freely. They attract bumble bees (apparently this is a problem
> to some people)
>
> Propagation:
>
> Easy from seed, sow at 55-60 degrees in spring. Germination in 10-20 days.
> Refrigeration  for a week helps germination, light is also good for
> germination so sow on the surface and after seeds germinate cover lightly.
> Plants grow fast and are not difficult to transplant out.  In early spring or
> fall divisions can be made- if you have a very nice form and you want to
> increase it-cut the plant off at the soil level after flowering and it will
> produce many divisions.
> Dig it up and pull off and pot up or replant.
> Flowers some times from a early sowing the first year- best flower production
> the third year.
> Cut off seed heads to prevent self sowing. About 7,000 seeds per once.
>
> Misc.:
>
> Will attract butterflies. These plants were used to make the infamous "snake
> oil" of the past- It was used as a poultices for blood poisoning and snake
> bites. It was used as a mouth wash for gum and tooth problems.
>
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