Question
MY coneflowers are about 20 years old they look terrible this year in St Louis, MO. They are dull pink,small sometimes I get cone and no petals. I planted black eyeed susan in same bed t hey are taking over.They are usually so vibrant Is that the problem?

Answer
Hi Sue,
Thanx for your question.  Coneflowers are prairie flowers and tend to be very tough and resilient so I don't think the Black-eyed Susan is taking over because of its numbers.  I think the problem may be one of two things, either aster yellows carried by the leaf hopper and injected into the plant.  Most of the time the plants will recover.  On bad infections, pull the plants up and destroy them.  We have had a lot of rain this summer.  I'm not far away from you, in Kansas City and the damp summer can also cause coneflowers to become dull and sparesly flower.  Once the wetness evens out, the plants should return back to normal.  I hope this helps.
Tom