coneflowers

"Everything on earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it
and every person a mission"

Mourning Dove Salish

Many of the plants we're familiar with today, came across the oceans with the immigrants.  Some were also just freeloaders hitching a ride unbeknownst to us.  But   then, there are the few that are true blue North American plants that grow natural here and nowhere else on earth.  Such is the coneflower.

Coneflower.  Also known technically as Echinacea.  Echinacea Moench is the correct Genus, which was named by a German botanist, Conrad Moench, which incidentally is the only thing European about this plant.  The name comes from the Greek echinos, which translates to hedgehog, referring to the prickly seed heads.  It is a member of the Aster or what used to be called the daisy family and consist of just 9 species.

So now that we have a brief biological history of the plant, we can go farther back to the people who first discovered it's many uses and loved and depended on the plant.  The Native Americans of the Plains observed that when elk would get sick or just generally not acting right, they would seek out the coneflower to munch on to cure them of their ills.  The species that the elk were eating was Echinacea angustifolia, which we call the narrow leaf coneflower or blacksamson coneflower today.  This species grows exclusively in the grasslands of the plains.  The Indians then discovered that the root of the plant was the most effective part and used it for snake bites, cough, sore throats and colds, to eye infections.  To at least 14 different tribes, which included the Sioux, Comanche, Cheyenne, Choctaw and Dakota to name just a few, the coneflower was their most used herb.

The settlers then picked up on using the plant and used it for everything from treatment for Scarlet Fever to diphtheria.  In the late 19th century a man by the name of HCF Meyer came along and in good old entrepreneurship, concocted an elixir with Echinacea as the main ingredient that he called Meyer Blood Purifier.  It was a huge hit and with some savy marketing became the go to drug of it's day.  It was popular up until the 1930's when we Americans started depending more and more on antibiotics and the herb fell out of favor.   Enter the Europeans, the Germans to be more precise, who took the plant to Germany which happened to be the species, Echinacea purpurea or the Eastern purple coneflower, a close relative of the Plains coneflower and which grows in the eastern half of the States.  The German scientist discovered that the coneflower did indeed help with colds and other ailments.  It seems the herb stimulates the white blood cells, which in turn boosts the immune system and also acts as a blood purifier.  It became the leading medicine for colds in Europe and once again gained popularity in America in the latter part of the 20th century.  Today there is varying opinion on what ailments that Echinacea helps with and some studies suggest not to take the herb more than 10 days straight.  As with any herb before using, familiarize yourself with it before making any decision.

As for the gardening aspect, this is where this flower also shines.  The coneflower is drought tolerant and loved by bees.  It is a herbaceous perennial that is hardy in zones 3-9, so is appropriate for much of the country.  It is a summer bloomer and needs full sun but can take a dab of shade and likes fertile, well drained soil.  Coneflowers are easy to start from seed, but need stratification (cold), so I usually sow mine in the Fall.  You can also propagate them by dividing the clumps, which is a good idea after some years, to rejuvenate old plants.  The plants don't like competing with weeds when they're young, so it helps to give them some elbow room by keeping the area relatively weed free at first.  The plants should spread as they get older and smother the weeds out by themselves.  Since they are long lived, add some compost to the hole when first planting to get them off to a good start.

Sometimes we get dazzled by the rare and exotic of the plant world, when in fact right under our noses is one of the most beautiful and beneficial plants that is truly one of our own.  Not withstanding all of it's many attributes, the coneflower should be grown for that purpose alone.