Audubon® Sweet Coneflower

A sweet addition to your perennial border, cottage garden, rain garden, or backyard wildlife habitat! Sweet Coneflower will help you celebrate summer with a glorious display of Black-Eyed Susan flowers that lasts for two months. The cheery yellow blooms will please pollinators, too, including digger bees, cuckoo bees, leaf-cutter bees, and green metallic sweat bees, along with a wide assortment of butterflies, beetles, and bugs, and many beneficial wasps and flies. In fall and winter, finches, Juncos, and sparrows will appear to glean the seeds that have formed in the flowers’ dark chocolate centers.

Sweet Coneflower gets the first part of its name from the black-brown centers of its blooms, which give off a spicy-sweet fragrance like licorice when crushed. The second part of its name refers to the shape of those dark centers, although this plant isn’t a true Coneflower (Echinacea). It belongs to a closely related genus, Rudbeckia, which is better known as Black-Eyed Susan. Sweet Coneflower inhabits low, moist meadows and streamsides all over the midwestern and eastern states. Its natural range stretches from Minnesota to Massachusetts in the North and from Texas to Alabama in the South.

Sweet Coneflower plays host to some other interesting insects. The darling silvery checkerspot butterfly sometimes lays its eggs on its foliage. Several moth species take advantage of this plant, too, including the fascinating camouflaged looper. This clever caterpillar eats the flower parts of its host plant, and literally glues bits of the petals to its body while it eats to hide itself from predators! Eventually, it transforms into a pretty jade-green moth.

Audubon is devoted to protecting birds and the places they need, while Bower & Branch is devoted to the growth of true native trees and plants–no cultivars or hybrids. Together, we strive to unite communities in conservation and inspire individuals to cultivate a better world for birds starting in their own backyards, balconies, or patios. By guiding and recommending trees and plants truly native and beneficial to your region, we can really start to make a difference.

What is the definition of Native?

“In the United States, a native plant is defined as one that was naturally found in a particular area before European colonization. Native plants are the foundation of a region’s biodiversity, providing essential food sources and shelter for birds, especially those threatened by the changing climate. Since native plants are adapted to local precipitation and soil conditions, they generally require less upkeep, therefore helping the environment and saving you time, water, and money.” – The National Audubon Society

Learn how you can help birds in your home and community through Audubon’s Plants for Birds program.

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