The native American coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, of the Midwestern prairies has been popular within its native range longer than anyone can remember, and has become more popular in the West as extracts of echinacea became a fad in herbal medicine several years ago. Modern garden varieties and cultivars have been bred and hybridized for larger and more colorful flowers.
Coneflower has developed from a sturdy but relatively simple prairie wildflower into a flashy and potentially garish perennial, with white, pink, red, orange, yellow, purplish pink or pale green daisy (composite) flowers as wide as three or even four inches. The fat and bristly rust-colored centers become more prominent as the outer petals (ray florets) fold downward to form a domed cone.
The sturdy upright stems can get taller than three feet and wider than two feet, although some garden varieties are more compact. The somewhat raspy basal foliage is full and fluffy, but becomes progressively sparser higher up the stems. Some rare cultivars bloom with double flowers. New growth replaces the old annually, and with plenty of sunlight, blooms through the warmth of summer.
Tony Tomeo 
I tried growing them once and they died very soon after I planted them!
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I am sorry to hear that. They really are pretty seemingly wild looking flowers that exemplify the Midwestern Prairie style of landscaping.
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I’ve not yet grown them but take photos of nice forms wherever I see them – beautiful plants.
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As much as I prefer unimproved specie, or the more basic varieties at most, I really do think that the modern varieties of these are just as pretty, and more colorful.
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I was lucky enough to find three native Echinacea species during my recent trip to the midwest, including the yellow E. paradoxa. The garden varieties often are lovely, but it’s quite something to come across an unexpected colony of them in the midst of a prairie remnant.
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Yes! Yuccas, although very different from other wildflowers, had the advantage of not being bred too much. Almost all were in their natural state, with only a few cultivars of Yucca filamentosa. There are more fancy cultivars of them now, but those that are out in the wild are still the best.
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Absolutely one of my favorite plants! Mine are beginning to crisp-up a bit in our heat, so I’ll be wacking them back and wait for their second bloom in the fall.
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Just today, I noticed that those in the picture got crispy because they got dry! I am so bummed! They went into a landscape, and do not look as pretty as when they arrived. I suppose they still look better than nothing, and will look even better later.
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I tried to grow them in my last garden , without success. Here they have done well, they do prefer an open site it seems
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I am sorry that they did not work for you. Someone else said the same thing.
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Working in this garden though so all good
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I love these flowers….so jolly and great in a hot climate…
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As much as I dislike modern varieties, I do happen to like how colorful these have gotten.
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