Prairie Coneflower

Description

Prairie Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea

 This medicinal plant is a native prairie wild flower, but currently uncommon in the wild. Planting the Future lists Echinacea as endangered and encourages cultivating in gardens instead of wild harvesting.

Culture: Plants prefer full sun and rich, moist soil of garden or grassland.   It is fairly easy to seed this plant directly in the garden or field. Sow the seed shallowly in the early to mid-spring. Keep moist. Once the plants are up, thin to 1 foot spacing after the second set of leaves has formed.  Or plant transplants 1 foot apart. Flowers 3 to 4 feet tall.

Seed saving: Wait until seed heads are completely dry on the stalk, then cut them off into paper bags or a bucket. Gently stomp on the flower heads in the container, then winnow with a fan on low setting or dropping seeds from one container to the other while blowing away the chaff with your breath. If using a fan make sure to place the catching container on top of a sheet to not lose any seeds blown past farther than needed.