I have 3 big beds with tons of purple coneflowers and started noticing this problem a year or two ago with many of my coneflower plants (I don't have any of the newer hybrids). I used to chalk it up to some weird mutation, as I never noticed a pest problem or discoloration/blight problem. I usually just deadhead the cones with no petals and hope for the best. I have noticed this year that on some of my coneflowers the first bloom or two were 'normal' looking but then the subsequent blooms (after deadheading the spent ones) were lone cones. Last year was worse than this year, however. I wouldn't worry too much about your other plants being affected. I have many different plants in the same beds with the affected coneflowers and they have never been bothered. Also, I should probably tell you I rarely disinfect my pruners (I know it's bad, but I'm lazy) and the vast majority of my plants were planted from seeds of one or two store-bought plants about 7 years ago. I would love to figure this out!

No! No! No! It's not done by squirrels or rabbits or groundhogs. It's a weevil (the "Sunflower Head-Clipping Weevil). I removed the one below from my purple coneflower and brought it in the house for a picture. I also killed 20 of his friends. What you have to do is walk around your garden and when you see a flower deadheaded 2 inches from the top, put your hand (or cup) underneath the flower and squeeze. These weevils will fall out into your hand or cup, and you can kill them with prejudice. They don't bite. :) You will also see them on top of the flowers and sometimes crawling up the stem. I've manually removed them every few days, and the problem is mostly resolved. I also found more details just now at: https://bygl.osu.edu/node/816 Good luck!

Yes, the flower buds look skimpy at first and then petals come on more and more every day until they are fully "there"! Soon, your Coneflowers will be coming on and blooming like gangsbusters and the butterflies will visit your garden and add their colors to it. That is very sweet - I have a little sister! ;) Lucky you to have a man get into gardening with you...or beside you. Mine is an enabler, and that is wonderful. I can do what I want with the house and yard, within our budget, that is, but he isn't interested in the least in what I do that I can discern. I try to talk to him about my flowers and gardens or show him things I am doing and he doesn't seem to be paying any attention. I might as well just be saying, "Blah, blah, blah". I am sure I must sound like the teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons to him. :) Happy for you to have him take such and interest in gardening like that. That is just wonderful. ~Annie

Dawn, we have had a decent amount of rain and the soil is pretty sandy. I do try to amend as much as possible with good compost and the soil just seems to suck it up and ask for more. I mulched well this year, since last year was so wet I couldn't keep up with the weeds and only lightly mulched. I went out this morning and all but the one I photographed have stood back up (they weren't as bent, just flopping. (Last night I did wipe them with an alcohol swabbed cotton pads.) I pulled the one I photographed and, on closer inspection, it looks like there are several spots around the bent part of the stem that look like bug damage. Hopefully, that is all. I will double check pictures of the diseases mentioned in your article to be sure. I really like the purple coneflowers. Hazel, aren't they beautiful? We have been so fortunate to not have had hail (knock on wood) and only one stretch of rain that seemed endless. For a day or two, I began to have flashbacks from last summer, lol.