Over here in Maryland, my "Sunrise" that I got in April 2006 is doing very well. It is HUGE, covered with flowerbuds, and started blooming at about the end of May. It is about a month ahead of its cousin purple coneflower "Magnus" and is towering over it right now. "Magnus" was set back a bit from some annoying little black sap-sucking bugs that distorted some of the leaves, but it is growing past that now after I killed the bugs with insecticidal soap. So, I am quite happy with "Sunrise."

I also bought the Prairie Splendor echinacea from Lowes fall of 2009. Mine is gorgeous and looks like the picture. It is June 5th and it has been blooming for over week even after torrential rains. I don't remember a wide variation in plants when I bought mine, but anyone who buys plants from Lowes should realize that you get what you pay for and that sometimes, you get a dud, and sometimes you luck out. I've been pleasantly surprised by mine and found this forum accidentally trying to find out where to get more. I've also had named cone flowers set seed and naturalize in my garden and the plants were tall and rangy; the flowers were small and sporadic at best. This plant I have now is the Belle of my border!

You don't say how long this plant has been in the ground, but you may want to back off from the watering. Echinaceas are drought resistant and don't need to be watered that much. Stick your finger in the dirt and see if it's very wet. All plants droop when it's hot, but by the next morning they pop back up. My second thought is, how much sun does this plant actually receive? You say "lots of morning sun" but how much is that really? Do they start getting it as soon as the sun rises, or sometime after? Coneflowers are sun lovers and should get at least 4-5 hours of direct sun or they don't bloom as much and tend to be floppy. Morning sun is much less intense than afternoon sun. Echinaceas are not usually bothered by insects. Maybe a little nibble here and there but nothing major. New perennials need to be in the ground at least a few months, maybe even a season before they start to perform really well for you. They all go through transplant shock - our yards are very different than the controlled environment at the nursery (which is why we always get suckered into buying more than we should!). Deer will eat echinachea, but if they were the culprit you'd see more damage - missing flower heads, chewed down plants, etc. The beetle might be your problem, but I just don't know. They don't touch my plants. If you are convinced it is an insect, try a neem based product. They are considered much less toxic than most garden chemicals which are indiscriminate and will kill beneficial insects as well as the pests. They are also very toxic to bees and butterflies, so only spray before dawn or at dusk when bees are not present. And only spray when you have to, otherwise try to live with the damage. First try cutting back on the water or moving it to a sunnier location and see what happens. Overwatering and improper light conditions will kill a plant faster than an insect. (If you decide to move the plant now, you will have to keep it watered until it re-establishes itself again.)

Those early blooms might depend on how it was grown at the nursery, and perhaps even where (i.e. a warmer zone). I received a hosta in the spring via mail order, and it came with buds, whereas my hostas in the ground were barely up yet. The mail-order hosta bloomed (quite early, obviously) and I'm not expecting further blooms this year. It being a new plant, I would deadhead that one bloom you had so any energy goes into the roots and not into making seed. In the future, you don't have to deadhead, if you want the echinacea to seed around, or if you like the winter interest or want to leave seed for the birds. I will say that despite the birds, my echinacea reseed a little too much for me. It's not a problem, as the seedlings pull out fairly easily, but now I only leave about half the seed heads up for the winter. That way the birds get some, there is something to poke above the snow, and there is not as much weeding for me to do in spring. Good luck! :)