My purple and white coneflowers are blooming very well now. They’ve been going for a few weeks and are probably peaking now. The white ones were started last year from seeds gathered from a plant I raised a few years ago from seeds off my mother-in-law’s plant. I think it’s ‘White Swan’ but I can’t be 100% sure. This is only the second year in my garden for the white ones. The purple ones are partly from plants I bought five years ago and also from seeds scattered by those plants.
I would not cut off the heads. It won’t make them rebloom, and one of the cool things about echinacea is letting the seed heads stay on the stalks through winter. The small birds, like finches, will find them and eat the seeds from the heads. It’s a nice, natural way to help the birds out in winter. Some of the seeds will fall out and self-sow, too, which is usually a good thing. As far as flopping over goes, I sometimes use a metal plant stake that has a circular hoop that goes around the flower stalk to hold them up. You can find them at nurseries or garden centers — usually they’re coated with a green rubbery plastic, which makes them less visible in the garden. I think they tend to flop the most if they’ve been overwatered. They’re pretty happy with only moderate water — not exactly drought tolerant, but a moderate amount of water is good.
My purple coneflowers are faded. Some of the flowers are so tall that they droop over. Do I need to cut the heads off these flowers? What should I do about the drooping?
The seeds are in between all the little spikes. You can rub your thumb across the spikes to make the head start to fall apart, and the seeds will fall out. The seeds are a light tan color, pointed at one end. Yes, you do plant them separately — not the whole pod at once. The seeds need light to germinate, so place them on top of the or only barely cover them. They germinate best at 70-75°.
Where are the seeds on the coneflower? Do you plant the whole pod or separate like marigold seeds?