Must agree with the above. We had so much rain this year and the Echinaceas are only starting to perform now that the rain has stopped. Thought we were going to lose quite a few before then. I must say the garden center Manager did a good job of 'up-selling' the fertilizers to you. I agree with Echinaceamaniac about the MG, and will add that the addition of compost to the soil should have been sufficient to start your plant off in the right direction. There was no need to buy fertilizer unless you knew that your soil was deficient, and from all indications, that was not the case since you say that all other plants in the same bed are doing fine. I would urge you to google the "ironate", do some reading, and then see if you wish to continue using it or dispose of it properly. I hope your plants come through and do well the rest of the season for you. :O)

I leave my coneflowers & Rudbeckia up through the fall & winter. Since I enjoy watching the finches feeding on the seeds, I'm guessing the finches appreciate the fact that I leave them rather than tidy up the garden beds. It doesn't bother me to wait until Spring to do garden bed clean-up. While I can't say it's true of other perennials, I haven't experienced any heavy reseeding problems with either coneflowers or Rudbeckia. I figure Mother Nature knew what she was doing millions of years ago so I don't normally interfere with her plans as the seasons progress. If she gave plants ratty foliage, I'm guessing there's a reason for it. Even if I don't particularly enjoy it I rarely interfere with it. You can winter sow either Echinacea/coneflower or Rudbeckia hirta seeds whenever you have time altho' according to my notes, Echinacea/coneflower seeds do need cold stratification in order to germinate. The link below is a portal to Tom Clothier's Seed Germination database. It's generally considered reliably accurate in my experience. Rudbeckia/black-eyed Susan seeds typically don't require a cold period in order to germinate. The "official" start of winter sowing is the Winter Solstice in December. There's a wealth of information about the method available on that GW forum. Good luck to you!! Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Clothier's database

It's not only the coneflowers that have been affected. I see some odd situations with my blue thistle. I just had to throw one away and noted that it's roots were affected by a spongy bulby thing. Could be bacterial or fungal. Plus there's a proliferation of insects. One really odd one that leaves polka dotted chew marks all over my dahlias, shasta daisy and even a couple of coneflowers. Oh - not to mention - aphids chewing up my pear tree. So - we are hit by a pest/disease double whammy here. Cimate being too cool and wet and Ontario's antipescticide policy. Not that I would suggest Ont.'s pesticide law is wrong. Ianna

It's hard to say for sure based on the photo. I copied a good description of the disease from the UW-Horticulture Extension website: Symptoms of aster yellows are often mistaken for damage due to herbicide exposure. Infected plants are typically stunted and twisted, with foliage that is yellow or red. Infected plants are often sterile. Floral parts that are normally brightly colored may remain green, and petals andsepals may become puckered and distorted. In purple coneflower, secondary flower heads (often in a cluster) may emerge from the primary flower head. Mine definitely had that secondary flower thing going on. I do not see that occurring on yours.