Coneflowers (Echinacea) have earned their place in perennial borders, pollinator gardens, and meadow-style landscapes—and for good reason. These hardy, vibrant perennials reliably return each spring in our Ontario Zone 6 climate, adding long-lasting colour and texture to any garden.

The classic Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) begins with soft, pink-tinged petals that deepen into rich purple hues as the season progresses. At its peak, the familiar domed centre cone emerges—an eye-catching structure that dries beautifully and provides winter interest in the garden. 

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Choose From The Rainbow

While the purple coneflower is the most iconic, hybrids now come in nearly every colour of the rainbow. You'll find stunning varieties in pink, white, green, orange, and fiery reds.

No matter your garden’s colour scheme, there’s likely a coneflower to match. Even better, their bold blooms attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, while the seed heads feed songbirds in fall and winter.

Low Maintenance, Long-Blooming Beauty

Coneflowers are both showy and easy to care for—ideal for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. Here’s what you need to know:

Growth habit:

• Height: 24–60 inches, depending on the variety

• Spread: 12–24 inches

• Bloom time: Mid-summer to fall

Growing conditions:

• Sun: Full sun is best, though light shade is tolerated

• Soil: Well-drained soil is key

• Water: Drought-tolerant once established, but thrives with consistent watering

• Fertilizer: Not necessary

Pro tips for success:

• Pinch back in early summer to encourage bushier, sturdier plants and decrease the chance of powdery mildew forming

• Deadhead spent blooms early in the season to prolong flowering

• Leave seed heads in late summer and fall for winter beauty and bird food

• Optional self-seeding: Let them go to seed for a naturalized look, or remove blooms to prevent self-seeding

Coneflower Companions

Coneflowers mix beautifully with a variety of other perennials. For vibrant, complementary plantings, try pairing them with:

• Salvia

• Crocosmia

• Hyssop (Agastache)

• Catmint (Nepeta)

• Phlox

• Ornamental grasses

These companions share similar growing requirements and will enhance the colour and texture of your garden throughout the growing season.

Visit Us for More Ideas

Want help choosing the perfect Coneflower variety or finding the right garden companions? Stop by Eising Garden Centre and chat with our perennial expert, Mary. She’ll help you create stunning combinations that bloom beautifully from summer into fall.

We all love to have some colour in our garden during the spring and summer, but adding colour doesn’t just mean adding hanging planters and colourful containers to your front porch! These flowering perennials have gorgeous blooms, and after a year of establishing, they’ll require minimal care. It’s a win-win situation! 

 

Why Plant Perennials?

Perennials come back each year, meaning that you can invest in your landscape design and reduce the amount of planting you have to do each year. Once your perennials have grown enough, you can separate them to make more plants! To be deemed a perennial, a plant must be able to tolerate the entire year in the ground without dying. To keep it easy, we’ve curated this list of flowering perennials that will survive southern Ontario winters and bring your yard fabulous colour year after year.

Salvia

This perennial is the best way to make the most of your garden: it attracts pollinators, deters pests, is a delicious herb, and has stunning flowers all in one plant! You can cut any of the colours, such as white, blue, purple, and pink, near the base after they bloom to produce a fresh crop of flowers later in the season.

Aster

For late-season blooms, asters are the flowering perennial that will bring a pop of purple, blue or pink into your garden just before fall arrives, contrasting beautifully against the orange and yellow leaves. They are fantastic food sources for pollinators and are very easy to grow in containers. Keep your asters in full sun for the most blooms. 

Black-Eyed Susans

This perennial is a classic, warming the hearts of gardeners with its golden petals. It’s a pollinator-friendly plant with simple, yet stunning flowers. Black-eyed Susans prefer full sun for prolific blooms, and well-draining soil.

Coneflower

Coneflowers, also known as Echinacea, are iconic North American flowering perennials. They come in many vibrant colours, such as yellow, orange, pink, and red shades featured in the “Sombrero” series. Because of their taproot, they are a little hardier than other plants and can handle dividing and transplanting well. They grow best with regular watering in full sun and require deadheading for continuous blooms.

Delphinium

There are over 300 varieties of delphiniums, but we recommend the Summer Series group for perennials since they have better heat and humidity tolerance. This group comes in shades of blue, navy, and dusty pink. This group doesn’t need staking because they are shorter, but don’t worry; they still produce just many flowers!

Wintergreen

This groundcover, Gaultheria procumbens, has mint-scented leaves and edible red berries. It is a tough groundcover plant that grows best in the shade. The leaves turn red to bronze in the winter, making this perennial an absolute delight in your garden year-round.

Garden Phlox 

Garden phlox is the perfect perennial for long-lasting blooms that will dazzle; the flowers grow in clusters on stalks, like little pom-poms of colour. Garden phlox prefers full sun and moist soil with good drainage for the best growth. If you want a groundcover variety, try creeping phlox! 

Coral Bells

Coral bells have impressive, vibrantly-coloured foliage that is stunning on its own, but it doesn’t stop there! Long spikes shoot up, adorned by tiny bell-shaped blooms that range from white to pink to red shades; it’s great for adding texture to your shorter plants.

Astilbe 

While delicate in appearance, astilbe is a hardy perennial that loves moisture and shade! Its foliage has a fern-like texture, and the flowers are fabulous flourishes of pink, purple, red, and white; this is a great perennial for adding character and filling in any shady spots in your yard! 

Peonies

If you’re looking for a perennial that will blow you away with large, stunning flowers, plant peonies! You can choose from varieties that bloom early, midseason, or late, or get a few of each to enjoy them all season. Full sun and shelter from the wind and strong staking are essential for peonies. 

We have plenty of flowering perennials for sale at Eising Garden Centre! Visit us to see our entire collection of high-quality plants and products.