Zone: 3 to 9

Soil: sand to clay

Light: Full sun to part sun

Bloom colour: Yellow

Bloom period: July to September

Height: 3 to 5 feet

Moisture: Dry to medium

Attracts: A variety of bees and butterflies.

Notes:

The airy blooms of Gray-headed coneflower are made up of quaint yellow flowers with drooping petals. They look good whether they are strewn across a prairie on in patches within a cottage garden.

Even though their natural habitat is prairie, they are really easy to grow in regular garden conditions even if you do not get full sun. Since they are so forgiving, you can combine them with many other plants including Echincea purpurea and even swamp milkweed since the blooming times overlap. They would look great planted with either Verbena or Delphinium. In partial sun, you may need to provide some support for these plants. In full sun they will not need any. It spreads gently by reseeding itself but not as much as other yellow coneflowers.

This is a fairly small genus and the only species native to Ontario is Ratibida pinnata, the gray-headed coneflower. Ratibida columnifera, while still being native to Canada and the USA, is really from the western states and provinces.

This is a fantastic plant to put in any wildlife garden and it will go to work for you even if you do not have a green thumb. If you plant it en-masse, then it will become just another yellow flower; however, it you plant smaller patches, then it will add charm and character to the garden.