‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is my favorite coneflower; it might be because when so many of the new cultivars were introduced, that didn’t didn’t return for a second season. They became very expensive annuals! Those issues have been worked out, but while I was waiting for this to occurred, I found ‘Cheyenne Spirit’.

Even though the perennial coneflower, ’Cheyenne Spirit tends to bloom the first year in a color mixture of white, cream, red, pink, orange, yellow, or purple ray flowers with brown disk flowers. 

Latin Name: Echinacea purpurea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ 

Common Name: ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ coneflower

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Height: 1.00 to 2.50 feet

Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet

Bloom Time: June to October

Native Range: Eastern North America

Wildlife Benefits: 

Birds and butterflies, as well as, Bumble bees, Bombus spp, sweat bees, Halictidae spp, and various sunflower bees in the genera Diadasia, Melissodes, and Svastra. 

Specialists include the sunflower leafcutter bee, Megachile pugnata, and the mining bee, Andrena helianthiformis.

Many butterflies also visit for nectar, including monarchs, Danaus plexippus swallowtails, Papilionidae spp., and sulphurs, Coliadinae spp.

Purple coneflowers are also the host butterfly plant for the silvery checkerspot butterfly larvae, Chlosyne nycteis.

Culture Information:

Sun: Full sun to part shade

Water: Dry to medium

Hardiness Zone: 4 to 9

Groom/Prune: Plants usually re-bloom without deadheading. Cutbacks will stimulate further blooms, but will take away seeds for the birds.

Pest/disease Control: No serious insect or disease problems. Susceptible to aster yellows disease and eriophyid mites. 

Propagation: Can collect seed to spread around. 

Tolerates: Deer, drought, clay soil, dry soil, sand hallow-rocky soil

Comments:

‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is easily seed grown, and grown as such in the industry as opposed to cloning.