Purple coneflowers ( Echinacea purpurea ) are grown both for their endearing flowers and for their usefulness as the source of medicinal echinacea . They are perennial that flourish in most part of the world . Prune coneflowers correctly to make them more attractive in the flower garden and more fat in the herbaceous plant bottom .

Step 1

Prune purple coneflowers for medicative use . This can be done several times throughout the growing season . Use the cut fresh , or dry them and salt away them to make healthful tea . Make the pruning cut on the flower stem just above the lowest green leaf . crop for medicinal use right before the flower buds open .

There may be some utter , brown leaves at the bottom of the plant ; this is normal . Make your harvest pruning cuts above the brown areas , and then prune away the dead parts .

Step 2

Prune empurpled coneflowers to deadhead them . Remove spend blossoms as they give way back . Clip the fore back to the next arm that bear a flower or bud . If there are no more buds , prune as close to the ground as you could .

More Modern shoots with flower bud will grow from the crown ( base ) of the coneflower plant . Consistent deadheading will keep a supply of young flowers blooming until frost .

Step 3

Keep your regal coneflowers cut to improve the shape of the industrial plant . Purple coneflowers can become grandiloquent and long-legged as summer advances , which makes them susceptible to damage from wind or from but toppling over . periodical trimming encourages the plants to use energy on source increase . This helps the industrial plant circulate , and it also increases the root mass , which can be harvested in part for medicative use .

Step 4

Prune a final clip for the twelvemonth after the first killing frost . Cut back all stems and leaf to the peak . Remove all deadened plant debris to lessen the risk of plant disease . stratum plentifulness of mulch over the coneflower industrial plant , about 3 to 4 inches thick , for full winter protection .

The dried bloom psyche that have go to seed can be severalise during this last pruning . Scatter the seeds on the flat coat in the declension , and they will come up very early in the leap . you may also save the seed for leaping planting . They can be planted in the spring as early on as lettuce or peas .

Tip

Some gardeners leave the last purple coneflower seedheads of the time of year for the birds to eat over the winter . Prune these back in early bound before new immature development appears . practice shrill pruning hook for a uninfected cut . Coneflower stems are rather tough and woody .

References

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