Coneflower Problems - Ask Extension
Hello, we have a 800 square feet of native prairie gardens in our yard, with one of the primary flowers being purple coneflower. This year we noticed ...
Knowledgebase
Coneflower Problems #889356
Asked November 05, 2024, 9:28 AM EST
Hello, we have a 800 square feet of native prairie gardens in our yard, with one of the primary flowers being purple coneflower. This year we noticed many of our coneflower plants getting white spots on the leaves, and some of them would also get yellow and brown spots. The heads of the coneflowers would also sometimes start turning black and rotting. Our questions are; how should we handle these diseased coneflowers as we cut our garden back this fall and is there anything we can do to prevent this from spreading or occurring again?
Ramsey County Minnesota
Expert Response
Diagnosis from a photo is difficult but it looks like a fungal infection and sanitation is an important part of control. Cleaning up and discarding (don’t compost) as much stem and leaf litter as you can will help bring it under control. The drought this summer severely stressed plants and made them more susceptible to fungal infections. Hopefully next summer isn’t as hot and dry.
https://extension.psu.edu/echinacea-diseases
https://extension.psu.edu/echinacea-diseases
Hi Evelyn,
Thanks for your response!
For cleaning up and controlling the infection, is it ok to use the same tools/clippers between plants? And if we use the same clippers on other (non-coneflower) plants, can the infection spread?
Thanks again,
Jacqueline
Fungal pathogens are usually species specific but to be safe one can pour a little rubbing alcohol on the blades and light the alcohol with a match. Doing so will sanitize the clippers without damaging the blades like bleach would.
