Prairie Coneflower

Prairie Coneflower brings a warm, sun-drenched energy to the summer border—its clear yellow petals radiating from prominent dark cones that rise on upright stems through the heat of midsummer and on into fall. Illinois native and thoroughly at home in Midwest gardens, it thrives in full sun and lean, well-drained soil with very little supplemental water once established. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds work the blooms from the moment they open, and as the seed heads dry and persist into autumn, goldfinches and other songbirds flock to them. Two to three feet tall, it mixes beautifully with ornamental grasses and blue-flowered companions like salvia and amsonia, where the warm yellow makes every neighbor look better. It shrugs off deer and rabbits and tolerates even sites near black walnut trees without complaint. Mass it in a sunny border or naturalized planting for a display that rewards the garden for months on end.