Echinacea, also known as coneflower, is a gorgeous perennial flower that many gardeners love to grow. With its bright colors and unique cone-shaped flower heads, it adds beauty and interest to any garden.
When you grow echinacea, it’s easy to save seeds from the plants to plant again the following year. By saving your own seeds, you can make free new plants, share seeds with other gardeners, and keep favorite heirloom varieties alive.
I’ll show you step-by-step how to get echinacea seeds from your garden and store them in this article. With a little time and work, you can grow this beautiful native flower over and over again.
When to Harvest Echinacea Seeds
Timing is key when gathering seeds. Since echinacea seeds ripen at different rates, you’ll need to check on the plants every day as they get close to being ready.
The seeds are ready to pick when:
- The flower petals have all dried up and fallen off.
- The seed head has turned completely brown and dry.
- Seeds feel plump and hard when gently squeezed.
- Seeds rub off easily from the cone when lightly brushed.
- The central cone has stiffened and dried out.
This typically occurs 4-6 weeks after the flowers finish blooming, around late summer to early fall.
In hot climates, seeds mature faster than in cooler regions. Pick the seeds when it’s dry and sunny, before they fall off on their own.
How to Collect Echinacea Seeds
Collecting echinacea seeds is quick and easy using these steps:
Step 1: Snip Off Mature Seed Heads
Use hand pruners or scissors to carefully cut off the entire dried seed head just below the base. Avoid yanking or twisting the stem, which can scatter the seeds.
Place the seed heads in a paper bag or open container as you harvest them. Don’t crowd too many seed heads together or they won’t dry properly.
Step 2: Remove Seeds from Seed Heads
There are a couple methods you can use to separate the seeds:
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Rub method: Gently crush the seed head between your fingers over a bowl or paper plate. Rub the pieces to loosen and release the seeds.
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Shake method: Place seed heads in a sealed container and shake vigorously to loosen seeds.
For either method, pick out the seeds and discard the dry flower debris. Avoid crushing the seeds when removing them.
Step 3: Dry Seeds Further
Spread seeds in a single layer on a screen or parchment paper. Allow to dry for 1-2 weeks in a cool, well-ventilated area out of direct sunlight.
Stir the seeds occasionally so they dry evenly. Proper drying is vital to prevent mold growth in storage.
Step 4: Store Echinacea Seeds
Place thoroughly dry seeds in paper envelopes or zip-close bags labelled with the plant name and harvest date. Avoid storing large batches together, as it increases spoilage risk.
Keep seeds in a cool, dark place like the refrigerator. Properly stored, echinacea seeds will remain viable for 2-4 years.
Tips for Strong Seedlings
Follow these tips to help ensure you get healthy, robust echinacea plants from saved seeds:
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Isolate different echinacea varieties by at least 20 ft when flowering to prevent cross-pollination.
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Allow some seed heads to remain in the garden over winter to self-sow.
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Save seeds only from your best performing, disease-free plants.
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Store seeds in a cool, consistent environment to maintain viability.
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Disinfect tools and hands between plants to prevent transmitting diseases.
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Use fresh seeds each year for highest germination rates.
How to Start Echinacea Seeds
Echinacea can be grown indoors or direct sown outside. Here are some tips:
Indoors: Sow seeds in sterile seed starting mix 6-8 weeks before your last frost. Cover with plastic to retain moisture and provide bottom heat. Once sprouted, grow seedlings on at 65-70°F until transplanting time.
Outdoors: Direct sow seeds 1⁄4” deep in prepared soil after all danger of frost. Space plants 12-18” apart in full sun. Water gently and regularly until established. Thin seedlings to final spacing.
Transplant echinacea seedlings outdoors after hardening off for 7-10 days. Gradually increase sun exposure and reduce watering.
Troubleshooting Common Problems
Here are some common issues and solutions when saving echinacea seeds:
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Poor germination: Old or improperly stored seeds. Sow fresh seeds each year.
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Sparse flowers: Echinacea may not bloom until the second year after planting. Be patient!
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Different flower colors/types: Unwanted cross-pollination occurred. Isolate plants by type and harvest seeds selectively.
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Diseased plants: Disease pathogens transmitted through seeds. Sterilize tools and only save seeds from healthy plants.
The Rewarding Benefits of Seed Saving
Saving seeds allows you to create a self-sustaining garden of your favorite coneflower varieties year after year. You’ll gain the satisfaction of propagating new plants for free while preserving beloved heirloom echinacea types.
The whole process from seed to flower is fascinating to observe. Plus you’ll have plenty of seeds to share or trade with other passionate gardeners.
How to Save Echinacea Seeds for Later
Collecting and saving echinacea seeds is very easy and in just a couple of minutes you can have tons of seeds. Which will turn in to tons of flowers you can plant next year for free!.
Here’s how to do it:
For many of the flowers I grow, like calendula, zinnias, and echinacea, I pick the blooms as they appear or cut off the spent flowers. But when you’re ready to gather the seeds, you have to leave the flowers alone so they can dry out and shape into the seed head.
The echinacea seeds will form on the flower head after the petals have dried.
At first it will look like this:
The above is an immature seed head. They are not ready for picking yet and are still quite green.
You want to wait until the flower head is completely brown and dry.
It will look like this when the echinacea seeds are ready to be collected:
When the seeds are fully mature they come off very easily. But be careful with coneflower seed heads because they are quite spiky!.
At this point, simply snip off the dried flower heads whole- and save your fingers from being pricked!
You can choose to take the seeds off of the echinacea flowers once you have all of them rather than leaving them on for now.
To remove the seeds you can gently pull apart the seed head. If they flowers are newly dry they tend to be pretty spiky, meaning you might need gloves.
The longer the older the dried heads are, the less hold the seeds will have and they’ll come out much easier.
Alternatively, you can try putting the seed heads in a jar or plastic container with a lid and shake vigorously until the seeds come out.
There will be other plant materials and chaff in with the seeds, it’s up to you whether you want to separate out of the seeds or just store it all together.
I tend to leave the plant materials because it’s easier!
If you look at the picture below the small, lighter tan shapes are the seeds and the longer black shapes are the extra plant material.
Before storing it’s very important that the seeds are completely dry.
How to Save Echinacea seeds: quick and easy way for how to save coneflower seeds
FAQ
How to preserve Echinacea seeds?
Store your seeds in a sealed plastic container or envelope until ready to use. The dried seeds can be stored for several years. Apr 11, 2023.
Can I just scatter coneflower seeds?
Yes, you can scatter coneflower seeds directly onto the soil surface, but this will need to be done in the fall or early winter. May 23, 2025.