Perennial - The long flower stems, fragrance, and long-lasting flowers make this an ideal plant for cut flowers. Twenty-five flowers per plant is not unusual in cultivation. Outer ray flowers vary considerably from the deep rose-purple of Purple Coneflower (E. purpurea) to a much paler shade. Center flowers (disk flowers) are brown. This coneflower tolerates much drier conditions than Purple Coneflower and does best in full sun; it also blooms two to four weeks earlier.