Common Name: echinancea
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas
Zone: 4 to 9
Height: 2.50 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 0.75 to 0.75 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: Pink
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies
Tolerate: Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil
Growth Form: Clumping
Culture
Best grown in evenly moist to dry, well-draining soils in full sun. Propagate through seed or Hardy in Zones 4-9.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Echinacea atrorubens, commonly called Topeka purple coneflower, is a herbaceous perennial native to the central United States from eastern Kansas south through the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma to eastern Texas. It is found growing on dry, rocky outcrops, prairies, and woodland openings. Mature clumps may reach up to 3' tall when in bloom with a 1' spread. The lanceolate, basal foliage can reach around 10" long and 1" wide with relatively long petioles (leaf stalks) reaching up to 5". The 8-20" long flowering stalks are topped with single, aster-type blooms made up of showy, ray florets surrounding a central cone of fertile disk florets. The ray florets are purple-pink, strongly reflexed, and relatively short compared to other coneflowers, typically reaching 0.75-1.25" long. The late spring blooms are attractive to bees, butterflies, and other insect pollinators. Songbirds will use the seeds as a winter food source.
Genus name of Echinacea comes from the Greek word echinos meaning hedgehog or sea urchin in reference to the spiny center cone found on most flowers in the genus.
The specific epithet atrorubens means "dark red", in reference to deep color of the ray florets, especially when compared to the similar species Echinacea pallida.
Problems
No major pest or disease problems of note.
Uses
Best for rock gardens, prairie gardens, and naturalized areas.