Let the seeds ripen on the plant. We're still a ways away from that happening. I started collecting mine last year in late August. The goldfinches will let you know when they are ready. :)

Then, wintersow them. 3" of dirt in a container with holes for drainage. Pat them into the soil. Cover with holes to allow for air and water entry. Wait til spring for new plants. Chances are they won't bloom the first year, so hopefully, your current plants will return.

I just sowed seeds Janie sent me today. I should have plants large enough to overwinter by the first frost. They'll bloom next year.

Well these are incredibly hardy plants. They will return year after year and they do grow large in width so be prepared to reduce their sizes when they get too large for their spaces.

I have debated before about leaving the deadflowers on for the birds, but then I started noticing more volunteers in the area where I don't need them to be. And they started to look rather unsightly and so I decided to remove them - this is however my personal choice. I have a small yard and so the view of dying blooms are more amplified and so I have to do something.

Ianna

I do like Tom. I deadhead until late summer, early fall...then I leave the seed heads for the finches and self-seeding. The birds will strip them very quickly! I don't bother to WS, just let them fall wherever.

You're getting a variety of answers, and I'll add another. I have several varieties of purple coneflower, and they always come back--bigger than ever--year after year. I don't deadhead them at all. The birds appreciate the seed, and I enjoy photographing them at all their stages.

I never cut the dried up flowers on the purple conflowers, I leave them all winter and do my cleanup in the spring. They honestly do not look bad and they attract goldfinches like mad. Any volunteer seedlings that you get that you do not want are easy enough to pull up when they are small.

Thanks for the answers. Okay, I won't deadhead in the Fall for the birds and spring droppings, but should I deadhead through the summer to encourage new growth?

Right now, I'm removing only the bug-eaten blooms on some of my coneflowers and there are already new buds forming.

In the fall, I do as Tom says and let the seeds ripen. Only, I sowed mine directly in the soil in late October (along with larkspur and poppies) instead of containers. Right now, I've got healthy coneflower seedlings where I planted them. As Tom says, don't expect blooms the first year, but next year, I anticipate blooms.

Have fun! Coneflowers are great.

Cameron

The three plants I bought are in full bloom. Are you saying when the seeds come up next year they won't bloom?

Another question. Come Spring, should I cut the plants down to the ground? Will they form new shoots on the old plants?

I don't deadhead, but I do cut the occasional bloom for in the house. When the petals start to fade and brown I pull them off, but leave the seed head. I like the way it looks in the garden. We don't get gold finches until January and by then the seed heads are usually gone. The only pruning I do in the spring is to cut off the old flower stalk. New growth quickly emerges.

Natal, in the winter won't the whole plant freeze, droop and die or does it stay and send out new shoots in the spring?

I admit to being an idiot, lol, but this year I've mostly planted flowers I've never grown before, and the taller flowers are the ones I'm really interested in. Except for the little Periwinkle which always gives a pretty color & are hard to kill. :)