Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is another very easy to grow perennial that is a favorite of mine. You would think with the common name purple coneflower that the blooms would be purple, they are not. I have seen the color described as pink-purple or rosy purple, but however you describe it, the color does lean more to the pink side than purple.

Purple coneflower attracts butterflies as you can see by the picture I took in my garden last summer. The seeds are supposed to be attractive to finches, but I haven’t ever had finches visit mine.

Purple coneflower as a species is native to much of the United States. It is a sun lover and a very drought tolerant perennial. If you don’t deadhead your plants or the birds don’t eat the seeds, purple coneflower can reseed.

There is a white variety of purple coneflower available, as well as the newest, very hard to find, gold and orange Meadowbrite coneflower introductions that are also mildly fragrant.