Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea pallida
Narrow, gracefully drooping petals give this coneflower a wilder meadow look. Thrives in hot, dry, rocky sites, and goldfinches work the seed heads.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The prairie coneflower for dry, lean sites. more elegant than purpurea and better-suited to tough conditions.
Pale Purple Coneflower is the elegant prairie cousin to the more familiar Echinacea purpurea. The petals are narrower and droop more dramatically around the spiky orange-brown cone, giving each flower a graceful, slightly wild quality that reads more meadow than garden. Blooms from June into July in shades ranging from pale lavender-pink to deeper rose, and the plants themselves stand taller than purple coneflower with a more upright, architectural presence. It thrives in the same dry, lean conditions that would stress other coneflowers, making it the right choice for hot, rocky borders, dry meadow plantings, and disturbed areas where soil quality is poor. The seed heads are persistent and attractive, and goldfinch work them from late summer through winter. This species is less commonly grown than purpurea but is better suited to challenging dry sites.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown pale purple coneflower propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry
- Mature size
- 2–4 ft · 18–24 in wide
- Bloom time
- Early summer, midsummer
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Central United States and upper Midwest, from Michigan to Nebraska south to Georgia and Texas
Care notes for pale purple coneflower.
Plant in full sun in well-drained to dry soil. Excellent in rocky, sandy, or lean soils. Avoid wet conditions or heavy clay. Leave seed heads through winter for birds. Divide every 3-4 years in early spring to rejuvenate. Does not require staking in full sun with good air circulation.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside pale purple coneflower.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
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Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.