Purple coneflower is, in my opinion, a so-so prairie plant.....whether considering our Minnesota native, Echinacea angustifolia, or the species native to the prairies of Iowa, Illinois and Michigan, E. purpurea. I rarely think a flower is unattractive but in the case of the purple coneflower, it's unappealing because the droopy ray flowers are, well, droopy.

In addition, purple coneflower is problematic when designing gardens. I agree with Don Engebretson, who wrote in the July/August 2010 issue of Northern Gardener, about "their gross overuse in the great 'Every Suburban Yard Needs a Prairie Garden.'"

Engebretson is referring to a style of gardening made popular by James van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme. They are principles in a highly successful, Washington, D.C.-based landscape design firm who brought their novel idea to the nation in 1990 with the publication of Bold Romantic Gardens. Suddenly, broad swaths of purple coneflower, liatris, sedum and grasses were in vogue. The look was suitable in large installations or in prairie settings but seemed positively silly in typical city gardens.

Then, as usual, plant breeders started fiddling with the coneflower genus and now, according to a feature story by Stephanie Cohen in Fine Gardening August 2010, there are 34 cultivars of Echinacea.

But even I'm swayed by the pretty, non-droopy 'Pixie Meadowbright' and, better yet, can recommend it for smaller gardens. Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, North Carolina, describes it as "a charming 18" tall x 2' wide compact clump, composed of sturdy flowering stems that end in mid-sized, flat-petaled pink flowers that rebloom all summer...a real winner!"

This also appeared in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota. Photo courtesy of Affordable Home and Garden Store.