Comparing Purple Coneflower varieties — notes from growing several

I've grown several varieties within the Purple Coneflower family and have some observations to share. self-seeding and naturalising without annual replanting varies noticeably between them, more than catalogue descriptions suggest. The care fundamentals are shared — scarifying or scratching the soil before sowing for seed contact applies across all of them.

dog walkers or trampling on unmown meadow areas affects some more than others, particularly in adverse conditions. I grow mine in a wildlife pond margin planting which works well for most varieties. peak flowering from early to midsummer is the clearest moment of differentiation between varieties — that's when the character of each comes through. Worth growing a few side by side if you have the space.