Perennial · North Texas care guide
Echinacea purpurea
Nursery Pro tip: A prairie native that shrugs off heat. Leave the cones for the birds.
Echinacea — rosy-purple daisies with a bronze cone, June into fall, on a sturdy 2–3 ft native prairie plant. Butterflies come for the flowers, goldfinches for the seed heads, and it handles our clay and heat far better than most perennials sold as 'cottage garden'.
Full sun to light shade; any soil with drainage. Space 18–24 in apart.
Spring or fall. Hole twice the pot width, ball at grade, native soil, Root Stimulator, mulch. It sets a deep taproot, so pick the spot carefully — it resents moving.
Weekly the first summer; after that only in drought.
Little to none. Rich soil makes floppy plants.
Deadhead for a longer bloom, but leave the fall seed heads for the finches. Cut back in late February. Divide only if the clump thins in the middle, every four or five years.
Aster yellows occasionally distorts the flowers — remove those plants. Japanese beetles in some years. Crown rot in wet winter soil.
Native and pollinator beds with black-eyed Susan, Gulf muhly, Russian sage, lantana and Mexican feather grass.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.