How to Care for Coneflowers

Coneflowers are colorful perennials that attract birds and butterflies to your yard or garden. You can plant coneflowers in shades of pink, purple, orange, yellow and white. The flowers look similar to a daisy, but have a thick and puffy center seed head that protrudes upward as the petals fold back. Caring for your coneflowers with regular deadheading, shearing once each season and dividing as needed will reward you will beautiful blooms for years to come.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

things you’ll need:

• Garden shears
• Shovel

1. Plant your coneflowers as a border along a walk way or as part of your perennial cutting garden. Cornflowers enjoy full sun and well drained soil. The plants grow quickly up to 20 inches tall and 24 inches wide.
2. Water your coneflowers often during the first growing season so the roots can become established. Mature coneflowers are drought resistant, but still need a weekly dose of water to survive. If the air is particularly dry, you may need to water your coneflowers more often.
3. Deadhead the coneflowers during the spring and early summer to encourage new growth in the middle to late summer. Cut off the spent blooms with garden shears as the petals begin to brown. You can also cut out any dead or browning leaves to allow for fresh greenery later in the season. Do not deadhead the coneflowers in the fall, as the seed heads provide food for migrating birds.
4. Shear your cornflowers back to about one-third of their growth during the early summer and you’ll have thicker growth later in the season. Shearing a plant means to cut and remove most of the greenery and all of the spent blooms and stems.
5. Divide fully grown and lush coneflowers in the spring or early fall, after the blooms have finished. Remove the plant from the ground completely with a shovel. Place the tip of your shovel at the top of the dirt and between the center leaves of your coneflower plant. Push down sharply with the shovel to cut the plant in half. Replant one half back into the hole where it was removed, and replant the other half in a new location. Water both halves of your coneflower after dividing and transplanting.

Tips & Warnings

• Plant your coneflowers where you can watch the birds enjoy the seed heads.

• Do not leave garden shears unattended.