Bumble Bees enjoy the large coneflower heads from as early as June until as late as October.
Echinacea Purpurea Coneflower - Sunflower Family
From the sunflower family, Echinacea Purpuea is a hardy perennial with brilliant flowers that attract many pollinators. Each flower head consists of multiple small flowers or florets that form a pattern similar to sunflowers. The Green Jewel coneflower is a hybrid version of the original wild Purple coneflower.
Purple Coneflower
In the picture below you can see a large bumble bee making a landing onto one of the the purple coneflowers. In two of the moving pictures below you can see bees making their rounds on the flower heads to collect pollen. The flowers appreciate being pollinated so thoroughly.
Green Jewel Coneflower
Most other colors seem to fade away while glancing in the direction of the Green Jewel coneflowers. It's hard to capture the mysterious pale green color of their flower heads and pedals.
The picture below and on the right was taken while the flowers were not in full sun. You can see in the other pictures how much the sunlight brings out the erie pale green color of the green jewel coneflowers.
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Echinacea Purpurea Propagation
Purple coneflowers are the wild variety and will spread themselves by seed - or seeds can be harvested for planting. Green Jewel coneflowers are hybrid and do not produce fertile seeds. Purple and green jewel coneflowers can be propagated by dividing an expanding clump of plants at the roots for replanting.
Echinacea Purpurea as a Natural Medicine
If you are allergic to sunflowers or daisies, coneflower remedies should be avoided. All parts of the purple coneflower - roots, leaves, flower petals, and the more concentrated dried flower heads - are said to boost the immune system, help fight off infection, and have potential anti-inflammatory properties. For medicinal information, suggested dosages, and additional cautions, these Health Canada and WebMD websites may be useful.
Personally I have a bottle of echinacea and goldenseal root pills and will pop a few if I'm feeling run down and suspect it's a bacteria growth from too much junk food or lack of sleep. I noticed the anti-inflamatory effects from from the pills and can see how that would help fight off infection. I asked a pharmacist recently if he had any goldenseal root extract pills available because I was wanting their anti-bacterial benefits - he said no, and that it's benefits are not proven - but he was trained by the pharmacudical industry, so I am suspicious of his natural medicine knowledge. Often pharmacudical drug components seem to be taken from or are trying to mimmick medicinal plant components. Be sure to do your own research and pay attention to how your body reacts to input. I try to eat well, sleep well, stay active, and keep balanced - with that my immune system seems to take care of the rest - knock on wood.
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Have a great day!