Harvesting Echinacea

A few months back while reading about purple coneflowers, I noticed that they used the terms 'coneflower' and 'echinacea' interchangably.  I thought it was a typo at first, until I did some more research, then I realized what I had growing out by the shed...echinacea!  Upon doing more reading, I discovered that it's extremely helpful in treating upper respiratory infections, which is our #1 reason for visiting the doctor every year.  This year, we'll be treating it with herbs!

Coneflowers planted to hide an ugly feature in the yard.

Coneflowers hanging on a rack, drying on the porch.

Apparently, every part of the flower contains some amount of the beneficial echinacea constituents.  The roots contain the highest amounts but taste bitter.  The flowers, petals and leaves contain lesser amounts but are more palatable. 

We're going to try both.

The leaves, petals and flowers can simply be dried, then crushed in hot water to make a tea taken several times a day.  For the roots, you must wait til fall til the plant has died back, then carefully dig roots from plants that are at least 3 years old.  Clean the roots, then dry them and store them in a dark, cool place.  Simmer the crushed roots in hot water to extract the beneficial elements.

According to WebMD and a number of other sources, echinacea is generally safe for people who don't have daisy allergies.  The same thing can be said for pineapple weed, but that's another post.