My wife Nancy spends a lot of time working in our yard and it really shows. She has watered and weeded regularly and keeps things trim with her edging and weed eaters. Throughout the yard, our flowers and shrubs are lovely. But the section of the yard I believe both of us are proudest of are the wildflowers she has planted around our birdbath. They are perennials and flowers like you would typically find in a meadow.

One of the plantings is the purple coneflower. Some ten years old, our coneflowers have really taken off. Each year in the late summer, our resident flock of goldfinches feast on the coneflower’s thistle-like seeds, and they are doing the same this summer. Having a beautiful flower that birds can also enjoy is a special treat.

Nancy bought her assortment of meadow flowers and simply scattered them in the partly shaded area around our birdbath and the coneflowers have thrived.

Coneflowers are common and popular perennials with many backyard gardeners.   They thrive best in full sun and prefer loose, well-drained soil. They adapt well to poor or sandy soil and do not like wet or soggy ground. The flowers need regular watering during their first growing season, but once established, they develop deep taproots and become very drought resistant.

The stems of aa coneflower can stretch from 2 to as much as 5 feet with lovely blooms. I understand that the flowers of this species can be used in herbal teas – to strengthen the immune system, but we haven’t tried that, being content to sit back and admire the beautiful blooms and the goldfinches which come to visit.

Consider purple coneflowers next spring if you have a small space in which you would like to add a bed of permanent beauty – and also to feed the friendly little goldfinches.