No. That's a good question. I have coneflowers come up from seed as well. However, for proper germination I would recommend you "stir" the mulch to get the seeds into soil contact. Then the mulch on top of the seeds will help maintain the moisture content. In your gardening zone are you thinking the coneflowers you're planting will have time to bloom before winter?

Here is a link that might be useful: Perennial And Rose Gardening

Think it would be better to remove mulch where you want stuff to seed. One object of mulch is to prevent seeds from germinating. It's supposed to be a weed suppressant and, unfortunately, that would include the echinacea.

It was said:
"One object of mulch is to prevent seeds from germinating. It's supposed to be a weed suppressant"

The way mulch suppresses weeds is this:
You spread two inches of mulch on the soil surface to bury any stray seeds and small seedlings. When the seeds sprout, they die before they can make it to the surface and light.

I have posted pictures on another thread about White Swan and how the regular purple coneflower reseeds madly for me by just shaking the seeds onto the top of the mulch. For me, hardwood mulch has never supressed the germination of seeds spread on top of it.

I mulch all my beds, and have never have a problem with the purple coneflowers reseeding...heavily...too much at times that I have to rip some out. But I do have problems with Lychnis reseeding, and that's supposed to be an easy one.

Now, if your beds are newly mulched with 3-4 inches of mulch, it may be a different story. My latest mulch has been in place for 2 years.

I just read a few new articles about mulching, seed planting etc. in a reputable magazine and they stated that mulch does not prevent weeds from growing, but that the weed seeds germinate in the mulch, and therefore they are easy to remove. Secondly, for seeds to grow they need to be in contact with the earth (hence the need to 'tap' them down when sowing small seeds in pots) so you had better stir the mulch up and get some seeds in contact with the earth, or be prepared to do some transplanting (from mulch to earth) when they sprout.
Northerner.

Believe me the roots of coneflowers will find the soil under the mulch. My masses of purple coneflowers will attest to that!

I overlooked the question learntogarden asked. No, I'm not even thinking that any new seedlings could possibly bloom this year. I just theorize that if I can get a lot of seedlings up and growing roots before winter, then by next summer I'll be several months ahead. I plan to put several inches of mulch over these tender plants before winter, and then reduce the depth of mulch this spring.

jim

Even if your seeds don't sprout before autumn, remember that they are still there and will sprout come spring. Nature does it that way all the time! I too mulch heavily and it does indeed repress some plants from reseeding for me, but coneflowers aren't among them (nor are a certain number of weeds, but I get far fewer that way). I think maybe the seeds stay viable for a good long while and as the mulch breaks down, the seeds find what they're looking for and away they go. As an experiment, why not try it both ways? Stir the mulch around in one area and leave it alone in another. See what happens, then tell us. That's how we all learn.