Wildflower Wednesday Week 1

 Introducing a new segment of the page: Wild Flower Wednesday!

Each Wednesday, a new wildflower will be posted, with a description and some details. 

Today's wildflower is one you may see in people's yards and gardens, or in the wild:

PURPLE CONEFLOWER, Echinacea purpurea

Average Height: 2-3 feet

Typical Location: sunny grassland, prairie, fields     (dry conditions)

Flowers: Summer, around June-July





The purple coneflower is a very common native ornamental wildflower, which many people use in their yard landscape, and is known for the showy purple petals. There are many other coneflower species, but the purple coneflower is one of the most well-known and used. There are typically many stems and flower heads for each plant, and when the seeds drop, they typically can scatter nearby and will grow relatively easy. These are also a favorite for gardens due to being easy to care for and grow, as well as their magnetism for bees and butterflys. The nectar in the coneflower center provides food for many native butterflys, including monarchs, tiger swallowtails, red admiral, american ladies, skippers, and fritillaries. The purple coneflower is also a host plant for the silvery checkerspot butterfly. This means, the checkerspot will lay eggs on the plant and the caterpillars will be able to feed off the plant to grow. 

Thanks for reading about the purple coneflower, the more of these I do, the better the post will be. 

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